Step 1: Prepare Thoroughly for Male Breast Reduction

Preparing for gynecomastia surgery is a process in itself. Once you’ve found an experienced male breast reduction surgeon, make note of his or her instructions and follow them. They will include paying attention to your nutrition prior to surgery, getting plenty of rest and limiting alcohol intake. It also means quitting or at least suspending smoking if you do smoke. Your plastic surgeon will have these and other pre-op guidelines for you.

In addition, give some thought to your personal needs. You will want someone to pick you up after your procedure and be close by to help you—perhaps prepare a meal or walk your dog—should you need it. You may also want to collect books, movies and other materials to help you take it easy for a few days.

Step 2: Get Plenty of Rest After Gynecomastia Surgery

Even though male breast reduction is less invasive than many other types of surgery, you will still need some time to recover from this “controlled trauma.” Resting allows your body to devote its resources to the healing process.

Resting, especially upright, helps with another post-surgical objective: controlling swelling. And the more measures you take to limit swelling, the faster your new, sleek look will appear.

Step 3: Limit Your Movements

Most men are very eager to get back to their normal lives, including exercise, as soon as possible following gynecomastia surgery. While this is understandable, be advised that doing too much too soon definitely leads to increased swelling, and can lead to complications.

It’s well worth it in the long run to limit your movements after male breast reduction. This means avoiding raising your arms and lifting much weight. It also means bypassing anything aerobic for a few weeks. It’s important to understand that elevated blood pressure also contributes to swelling, so it’s not enough to simply avoid weight lifting. It can also contribute to a late hematoma (bleeding under the skin), which can occur days or even weeks after surgery.

Step 4: Listen to your Gynecomastia Surgeon

No matter what your man boobs may look like, no matter what specific concerns you may have and no matter what happens along the way from consultation to recovery, if you’ve chosen your plastic surgeon wisely he or she will be well equipped to advise you. Listen carefully to their counsel.

To learn more about gynecomastia surgery and recovery, visit our website devoted to male breast reduction and take a look at the extensive list of Frequently Asked Questions.

In our Manhattan practice, we perform hundreds of male breast reduction surgeries each year and find working with patients like you extremely gratifying. We would like the chance to assist you with your own unique case of gynecomastia, whether New York is your home or you live thousands of miles away. Fill out our short form online to get started.

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The most critical reason to find a highly experienced gynecomastia surgeon can be expressed in just one word: contour. The key to achieving a natural, masculine look where man boobs used to be is creating a smooth, attractive chest contour. And it’s not necessarily a simple task.

Here’s why.

First, the way breast tissue develops varies widely. It typically begins to appear under the nipple/areola complex, and for some men, growth stops there. These patients have protruding or puffy looking areolas. Very careful gland removal is often required, sometimes with fat repositioning to ensure craters do not form.

In many men, gland tissue spreads out from the center of the breast gradually and intermingles with fat. In other words, the two types of tissue intertwine, making removal a customized operation. This is why most male breast reduction surgeries require a combination of liposuction and tissue excision, with precise resculpting of the chest.

In addition, stubborn fat pockets can exist nearby, such as in the armpit area. The plastic surgeon must be experienced in evaluating the entire chest to see if liposuction needs to be performed elsewhere, otherwise those little “pooches” could mar a sleek new look.

Finally, patients with a relatively large build need the skills of a gynecomastia specialist who knows how to remove enough breast gland and fat to banish the moobs, while leaving enough tissue so the chest area looks consistent with the rest of the body. It takes many surgeries to perfect the artistry involved in knowing what to remove and what to retain.

We have been performing surgery for patients with gynecomastia in New York, New Jersey and the surrounding areas for more than two decades. We take great pride in creating pleasing results for our patients and invite you to read our thorough FAQ and view our before and after gynecomastia photos to see some of our work. If you’d like to talk to us about your options, give us a call at 212-570-6080.

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A crater deformity looks like you might expect—it’s a depression under the nipple/areola complex. Naturally, a patient who seeks surgery for prominent male breasts does not want to end up with the reverse! Crater deformities do not look natural and, unfortunately, can be tricky to fix.

The Best Defense

As in football, where the best offense is a good defense, the ideal way to handle a crater deformity is not to get one in the first place. In working with 2,000 patients seeking male breast reduction in New York, we’ve found that a potential crater is usually evident during or near the end of gynecomastia surgery. Should this happen, an experienced gynecomastia surgeon can mobilize nearby fat flaps and suture them together underneath the skin. During the operation, tissues are loose and can be moved for this purpose.

We never complete a procedure if there’s any evidence that a crater may form. Surgery is finished only when there’s a completely firm, smooth contour. That’s why our gynecomastia revision surgery rate is nearly zero.

If You Have a Crater Deformity

We do perform quite a number of revision surgeries for patients who have had their man boob surgery with another doctor. Each case is unique, both inside and out, so our approach is to customize the revision. We start by carefully evaluating the patient, and we review the first surgeon’s operative report whenever possible.

The procedure itself can include one or more of these options:

• Fat suturing: If there’s sufficient fat tissue surrounding the crater, some may be loosened and stitched together just as in an initial procedure. This technique can be more challenging in a secondary operation due to the formation of scar tissue.
• Fat grafting: When there’s little fat available nearby, or when the depressed area is quite small, fat cells can be harvested from elsewhere, cleansed and injected into the crater. Occasionally this maneuver needs to be performed more than once.
• Liposuction: Once a depressed area is filled in with fat, very precise liposuction of surrounding tissues may help in achieving a smooth appearance.
• Scar tissue: If scar tissue under the skin contributes to an irregular surface, this tissue may be reduced through cortisone injections or careful excision.

Whether you’re planning a primary or secondary gynecomastia surgery, the single most important move you can make is to place yourself in the hands of a male breast reduction specialist. While no surgeon can guarantee a perfect result, there’s no better way to increase the odds of a great outcome for you than by consulting an expert.

We invite you to learn more about our practice, view our before and after gynecomastia photos and contact us for a consultation.

Photo by Lisa Brewster, available under a Creative Commons attribution license.

Before Gynecomastia Surgery

Patients sometimes ask about exercising before male breast reduction surgery to build chest muscles. We do encourage our patients to pursue good health and we applaud those who work out—but it’s not a necessary step in preparing for the procedure.

You also don’t need to stop working out before you come in for male breast reduction. We would suggest you don’t exhaust yourself the night before surgery so you have plenty of energy in reserve for recovery, but a mild to moderate workout is fine.

After Gynecomastia Surgery

Gynecomastia surgery is less invasive than many other surgical procedures. Even so, the recovery process must still be gradual. You can expect to be able to drive after a few days and return to sedentary work and light activities in a few days as well. You can go to restaurants, see movies and enjoy other non-strenuous pursuits.

Workouts should not be resumed for at least four weeks. As you return to the gym, the pool or your jogging route, take it easy at first. The key is to take care not to raise your blood pressure too high too soon. Elevated blood pressure can cause increased swelling, and it can open a blood vessel that was sealed in surgery, leading to post-surgical bleeding or a hematoma even several days down the road.

Avoiding Common Mistakes

One of the most common mistakes men make when recovering from gynecomastia surgery is misunderstanding the reason for avoiding strenuous exercise for a few weeks. Occasionally one of our New York City gynecomastia patients will think, “I’m more fit than the average guy, I can take it,” and grab the free weights too soon. Others go back to their regular exercise circuit the first day back at the gym, without resuming the routine a little at a time.

Make sure you understand that maintaining low blood pressure the first few weeks after surgery will be of tremendous help in reducing swelling and guarding against bleeding. No matter how strong and eager for a workout you may feel, the inevitable rise in blood pressure is not worth the risk.

After all, shrinking those man boobs as fast as possible is what it’s all about, right?

Find more information about recovering from gynecomastia surgery and other aspects of enlarged male breasts in the list of frequently asked questions on our website devoted to gynecomastia surgery.

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As we tell our New York gynecomastia patients, it’s essential that each male breast reduction procedure be fine-tuned to the specific needs of the patient. And that means some decisions must be made in the operating suite as the gynecomastia surgeon gets a close up look at exactly what kind of tissue is present throughout the entire chest area.

Through our experience working with 2,000 gynecomastia patients over two decades, we’ve learned a great deal. We know enough to make educated guesses about what we’ll find under the skin during surgery, and we’re right most of the time. Still, we make final decisions during the male breast reduction procedure to achieve optimum results for each man. It’s important to understand that no one, not even a plastic surgeon well versed in male breast surgery, can predict exactly what type of tissue lies beneath the skin prior to making incisions.

We think of the surgical process as a “decision tree.” We start with a tiny nick near the armpit and perform liposuction with instruments we’ve designed for this purpose. In about a third of our patients, we discover a modest amount of breast tissue that can also be removed with a cannula through this same incision.

When we find a larger amount of dense breast gland that can’t be taken out this way, we make small incisions around the edge of the areolas. This allows us to remove the balance of the breast tissue and achieve a smooth, contoured appearance.

The decision tree doesn’t apply to the breasts alone. We also take a look at surrounding areas and determine whether there are stubborn fat deposits along the sides of the chest or into the armpit that should be removed. Each case is unique, but the goal is the same: to achieve a natural looking, masculine result.

We understand that every patient hopes for the least invasive male breast reduction procedure possible, and that’s our goal as well. But even when our New York gynecomastia patients need multiple small incisions to achieve a great-looking outcome, we assure them that scars will be minimal, or even nearly invisible. Take a look at our before and after gynecomastia photos to see what we mean.

Photo by David Mican, available under a Creative Commons attribution license.

There’s a reason before and after plastic surgery photos are some of the most highly-trafficked pages on plastic surgeons’ websites: patients are naturally curious about what they might achieve if they should elect to go under the knife. We find this to be the case with just about every procedure patients are interested in, including male breast reduction. New York patients are informed consumers, and they want to see what they can reasonably expect.

In truth, before and after gynecomastia photos can do more than fuel your imagination—they can be used in other ways too. Here are some suggestions to get you thinking about what before and after gynecomastia pictures can do for you.

• Use them in consultation. An obvious way to benefit from male breast reduction photos is to use them to facilitate mutual understanding with your plastic surgeon. Look for images of men with “before” physiques similar to yours, and surgical results you admire, to express your desires to your surgeon. He or she can use the photo gallery to illustrate anyspecial considerations, such as the shape of your ribcage or your skin’s elasticity, that need to be taken into account.

• They can be a decision factor in choosing your plastic surgeon. Another way patients use before and after gynecomastia photos is to find a surgeon with a high level of male breast reduction experience. Many cosmetic surgeons perform the procedure—along with 20 or 30 other surgical procedures—and handle several gynecomastia patients annually. But few perform dozens or even hundreds of male breast reductions each year. A robust photo gallery can indicate that your prospective plastic surgeon operates on man boobs frequently.

• Use them to help you indentify a gynecomastia specialist. Here’s a bit of inside information from a plastic surgeon’s point of view—posting and maintaining photos on the Web is time consuming. At a minimum, the surgeon needs to obtain permission from patients, take a set of comparable photos, develop a website with photo gallery management software and commit to keeping it up to date. What this means is that a plastic surgeon with an extensive library of before and after gynecomastia photos invests in treating men like you.

Whether you’re seeking male breast reduction in New York or New Mexico, it really does pay off to choose an experienced plastic surgeon who performs many of these procedures each year—a surgeon who is highly interested in treating gynecomastia patients and takes time to demonstrate their expertise. Photo galleries can be good places to get a feeling for this.

Male breast reduction surgery incisions—including any liposuction that may be performed—interrupt the sensory nerve fibers that conduct feeling to the skin and nipples. Just as in any other type of surgery, temporary post-operative skin numbness is inevitable. Gynecomastia patients can expect to be able to feel pressure and perhaps temperature change right after their procedure, but not light touching.

Soon after gynecomastia surgery, nerves begin to reconnect and recover. This process can bring a variety of feelings with it: tingling, heightened sensitivity, even brief shooting pain. Some patients feel all these sensations; others don’t notice anything unusual.

Over the course of several months, the nerve fibers settle into place again. Tingling and other fleeting sensations subside and normal feeling gradually returns for the vast majority of men who elect male breast reduction. In our New York practice, we occasionally work with a patient who loses some sensation permanently—at a small incision site at the edge of one areola, for example. This is a rare occurrence, but it can happen. It’s a minor risk most men are gladly willing to accept in exchange for telling their moobs “good-bye.”

Any surgeon, no matter their specialty, will tell you that post-operative healing is a very individual process. Each patient heals in his own way and at his own pace, and the end result can’t be predicted with precision. When it comes to encouraging sensation to return, we counsel male breast reduction patients to follow our instructions to the letter, take good care of themselves and simply wait it out.

Learn more at our website devoted to gynecomastia: www.gynecomastianewyork.com.

Photo by Q. Thomas Bower, available under a Creative Commons attribution license.

When compared with many other surgical procedures, male breast reduction is not very invasive. Incisions are small and tissue removal takes place just beneath the skin. At no time do we venture into a body cavity or disturb a joint or a vital organ. While trauma does occur, as it does in any surgical procedure, it’s minimal and localized.

Still, when we conduct consultations for patients with gynecomastia in New York, we make sure they understand that there is a small risk that a complication may occur. Possibilities include:

• Bleeding: When you’re sent home, bleeding that occurs normally during gynecomastia surgery will have stopped. Occasionally, bleeding may resume later at the surgical site. This can happen if you’re active too soon after surgery, or for no apparent reason. A small amount of oozing is usually nothing to worry about, but if there’s any concern you’re encouraged to contact us.

• Hematoma: A hematoma is a collection of blood under the skin, essentially a bruise. In most cases, bleeding stops on its own and the fluid is reabsorbed by the body. To be safe, we usually recommend patients contact us for evaluation in the case of a hematoma.

• Seroma: A seroma is similar to a hematoma, but the pocket of swelling contains clear, yellowish fluid that seeps from the tissues. We often remove the excess fluid through a simple needle aspiration.

• Infection: While technically a risk of gynecomastia surgery, infection is very rare. We take measures to prevent infection from occurring, but should it happen, it can be treated.

• Irregular contours: There’s a certain amount of inherent uncertainty in any cosmetic procedure, due to the fact that healing is unpredictable by nature. The best way to ensure good results is to choose a gynecomastia specialist with hundreds of procedures to his or her credit and to follow instructions to the letter.

Because male breast reduction is elective surgery, we are fortunate to have the time to establish relationships with our patients and discuss mutual concerns. We always make sure we use this time wisely to get to know the men we work with, understand their goals and worries and give them full information about gynecomastia surgery—including possible complications.

Whether you live in Manhattan or on the other side of the world, we would be happy to talk with you. Give us a call at 212-570-6080 or contact us online.

Photo by D. Sharon Pruitt, available under a Creative Commons attribution license.

Of course, there are a number of patients who sign up for male breast reduction surgery eagerly and want to get into the operating suite right away! These are men referred to us by someone they know. After seeing a friend or loved one get a new lease on life when they lose their moobs, our referral patients are inevitably enthusiastic about achieving the same results.

Generally speaking, though, the patients we see for gynecomastia in New York seem to become more comfortable with the idea of male breast reduction as they do some research and discover:

• Gynecomastia surgery is not very invasive and is low in risk
• The procedure is satisfying and permanent for almost all men
• The sooner you have surgery, the more likely your skin will bounce back

For some who don’t want others to know they’ve had gynecomastia surgery, a question may remain as they approach a decision. What will it be like when I return to work in a compression garment with restricted movement?

The answer depends on you and the kind of work you do. For instance, if you have a job that requires you to dress rather formally in a tailored shirt or a uniform and you do very little lifting, it’s unlikely anyone will notice anything is different.

Similarly, if you work outdoors in cool weather and you wear a sweatshirt, jacket or similar clothing, it’s likely that your compression garment will not be noticed. But if lifting and carrying is part of the job, you may find it necessary to explain to some people why you need to take it easy for a while.

If your job setting is more informal and you typically wear a shirt that may reveal a compression vest to those you work with closely, you may also want to be prepared to explain the temporary change to your colleagues. Some patients decide to tell others they’ve cracked some ribs or hurt their back and need extra support. Some find it important to be as truthful as possible and say they’ve had minor surgery or even a growth removed and need a temporary bandage.

This is an ideal topic to discuss with patients who have been through male breast reduction surgery and recovery. You can ask other men—in a forum like the one on gynecomastia.org, for example—what it was like when they went back to work. This can help you think about how to prepare. The bottom line is, however, that just like any other medical concern, gynecomastia is no one’s business but your own.

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For a very large majority of the men we work with, the answer is a resounding “yes.” In post-op visits, patients express emotions ranging from relief to joy. Your own individual level of satisfaction with gynecomastia surgery, however, depends at least as much on you as it does on us. Here are two leading factors to consider.

First, give some thought to your expectations. Male breast reduction surgery will produce sleeker, more masculine chest contours, but it won’t turn you into a magazine model. Gynecomastia surgery will likely help reduce or even eliminate embarrassment in a variety of situations, and it may very well assist you in gaining confidence in your appearance. But this doesn’t necessarily happen automatically. You may need to do some internal “processing” to become accustomed to your new look.

Equally important, consider the part man boobs play in your life now and how this may carry over to your feelings about the results of surgery. It’s understandable if you feel distress about the current appearance of your chest, and you’re certainly not alone if you go to some trouble to disguise your man boobs. But reflect on how much impact your physique has on your day-to-day life. Do you think about your moobs many times throughout the day? Do you constantly compare your appearance to the way other men look? Do you feel the look of your chest is the leading factor in your general happiness with life?

If an objective evaluation of questions like these suggests that you may be overly preoccupied with your man boobs, then there’s a chance you may feel hypercritical of the results of male breast reduction surgery as well. We have seen it happen with a few of our New York City gynecomastia patients. Once in a while a patient will feel a great deal of anxiety about swelling, or perhaps symmetry, when the reality is that their body is healing appropriately and the outcome of surgery looks completely normal to others.

It can benefit some patients to see a psychologist for help in evaluating feelings, preparing for surgery and working through the process of becoming comfortable in a new body. Whether you feel you have a handle on your needs or not, don’t hesitate to arrange a consultation with us. We have worked with nearly 2,000 gynecomastia patients over many years, and we can help you create a plan for surgery and support.

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