Gynecomastia surgery

Most men return to a desk job in 5–7 days. If your work is physical or involves heavy lifting, plan for 3–4 weeks before full duties.

The operation is done under general anaesthesia or deep sedation, so you feel nothing during it. Afterwards most men describe tightness and soreness across the chest rather than sharp pain; it peaks in the first three days and is controlled with the medication you're sent home with.

Once the glandular tissue is removed it doesn't grow back. Significant weight gain, anabolic steroid use or a new hormonal imbalance can still create changes that mimic a recurrence.

For most cases the incision sits along the lower edge of the areola and fades to a fine line within a year. Skin-excision cases involve longer scars that are harder to hide shirtless. Keep healing scars out of direct sun and, once your surgeon clears it, use a silicone-based scar gel — both help them fade.

Only if your chest is predominantly fatty with no firm disc behind the nipple. True glandular tissue is fibrous and won't break up with a cannula, which is why liposuction alone often leaves a stubborn lump.

Plan for a travel window of 5–7 days .The stay is built around your first wound check at day 5–7, and we'd rather you fly at the end of that window than at the earliest allowed.

Light lower-body work around week 3, and full upper-body and chest training at week 6. Going back too early raises the risk of bleeding and contour problems.

Rarely. Some insurers cover severe, persistent, biopsy-confirmed cases with documented physical symptoms, but most treat it as cosmetic and self-pay.

Time can — gynecomastia that appears during puberty frequently resolves on its own within a couple of years, and in early stages a doctor may also consider medication such as tamoxifen. Exercise can't: weight loss and chest exercises shift the fatty component and improve pectoral definition, but they don't dissolve mature glandular tissue. Surgery becomes the reliable option once the tissue has persisted long enough to turn fibrous, or when it causes ongoing distress.

Usually an imbalance between estrogen and testosterone. Common triggers include medications (anabolic steroids, anti-androgens, some antidepressants), lifestyle factors such as obesity, alcohol or recreational drug use, and medical conditions like liver or kidney disease, thyroid disorders or hormone-producing tumours — which is why we look for a treatable cause before operating.

True gynecomastia feels like a firm or rubbery disc behind the nipple and can affect one side more than the other; pseudo-gynecomastia is soft fat with no disc. A physical examination usually settles it, with blood tests to rule out an underlying cause and imaging only when something is unclear.

Men whose chest hasn't responded to weight loss, exercise or chest training, who are in good general health, at a stable weight and with realistic expectations of the result. Your surgeon may advise delaying surgery if your weight is still changing significantly or a medical condition that affects healing isn't yet under control. Surgeons also want the enlargement to have been stable for at least a year, so hormonal shifts aren't still moving the tissue, and skin with enough elasticity to draw in over a flatter contour.

We operate on adult men, broadly 18 to 65, who are in good general health and at a stable weight. Younger than that, gynecomastia that appears in puberty often settles on its own, so the usual advice is to wait it out. Older than that, it's your general health and fitness for anaesthesia that decides rather than the number itself.

Day and night through about the six-week mark, off only for a brief lukewarm shower, then as your surgeon advises. It keeps swelling down, protects the healing incisions from strain and helps the skin settle flat against the new contour.

Flat on your back with your upper body propped slightly on pillows, for the first week or two. It keeps pressure off the chest, helps swelling drain, and stops you rolling onto the healing incisions in your sleep.