A page written by Dr. Khalifeh on what he sees during consultations. last updated 5/05/23
In this post, I will aggregate some of the experiences that men have shared with me over the years on how gynecomastia affected their lives.
To me, the most beautiful aspect of being a gynecomastia specialist, is how effective this surgery is in changing those aspects of their lives. Being able to successfully improve a patient’s life with a scalpel is after all the most rewarding aspect of having trained in surgery.
Here are some common aspects of how gynecomastia can affect a man’s life, all of which I have found to either disappear or at least very significantly improve in the vast majority of treated patients. I have them listed in the order they come to my mind, rather than anything specific.
Being concerned about having excess breast tissue leads to decreased confidence. This can persist even when the breasts are not shown, such as in winter’s clothing. It is obviously more concerning in the bedroom, in the Lockeroom, and on the beach. For better or for worse, society values self confidence in men across most functions, and having a source of self confidence in one sector that seemingly should not be related to another sector can sometimes nonetheless spread the effect from gyno across the difference aspects of a man’s life.
this is self explanatory, and discomfort with one’s body can interfere with this important part of life. Often the man’s partner does not even care or notice to the same extent as my patients. but the point is, unless my patients can learn not to care either, if they are bothered by the gyno, it can affect their sexuality, and their sexual well being can therefore be improved by removing the gynecomastia.
Many places require us to go topless as men. think public pools, public beaches (yes, most of us don’t have access to a private beach!) , gym changing rooms, etcetera. I have had men avoid vacations with their friends, such as graduation trips, bachelor parties, etc. for fear of having to go shirtless. I have also seen them get surgery in time to be able to enjoy these special occasions.
With kids trips pool and beach: many men search me out when they become new fathers. When your young ones reach a certain age, and want dad to come along, it is hard to say no and many men seek out treatment at that time.
Some men get discouraged by their workout efforts. The chest appearance may not respond to exercise since gynecomastia tissue will not disappear, and this discourages men from hitting the gym. Additionally, which I find surprising, some will feel more comfortable with a growing body and a larger abdomen, to help mask the overall condition. I have seen also this condition completely reverse after treatment, and take men that were not working out enough and changing the parts of their bodies that I didn’t work, by leading a healthier and more active lifestyle.
Gyno can sometimes cause pain. the cause of the pain has to be investigated with ultrasound or mammogram, because we have to rule out other important causes of pain. However, most of the time the pain is caused because gyno pushes the nipples forward and they rub excessively on closing. We also know that psychology feeds back into the pain loop, so if there’s even a bit of pain this gets magnified if the patient is bothered by the idea of having Gyno.
Men will sometimes wear multilayered clothing, because each layer masks the gyno a bit more.
I see my patients taking off tight undergarments that they have made part of their daily routines. These are sometimes uncomfortable or unseasonably hot.
Some patients will chronically use tape to tape down the nipples and avoid protrusion thru the cloth. I have seen hyperpigmentation in skin from chronic irrigation from the tape. Obviously these men don’t even think about showing their chests bear, having given up on that idea.
I find that gynecomastia affects the posture of some of my patients. Not because of the weight of the breasts (most of the time, this is not a significant enough), but because the patient has learned that hunched shoulders mask the protrusion of the male chest, masking their gynecomastia.
Sometimes we can all obsess about an aspect in our lift that bothers us, and think about it daily. I’ve had some patients say that surgery finally help them get rid of this constant source of frustration, and therefore release that mental bandwidth that was preoccupied with this.
In conclusion, Gynecomastia can significantly affect a man’s life in many ways. Gynecomastia surgery is a first step in reversing these concerns, and I highly encourage men with any of these concerns to seek out advice about treatment and surgery as I have found surgery to be highly effective in reversing these negative impacts on Men’s lives.