What is gynecomastia and what types are there?
Gynecomastia is the alteration of the male gland or abnormal development of the male gland. All men during adolescence suffer an increase of this gland, more or less 70-80%, what happens is that in 30% of the people remains and is not reabsorbed. This means that these patients will suffer what is called gynecomastia and the only existing treatment is surgical. There are two types of gynecomastia, the one that is related to the growth of the gland and is called true gynecomastia and another type that has mainly a fat component, i.e., there is an increase of adipose tissue in the area and is usually associated with patients with obesity or overweight and this is called false gynecomastia or pseudo-gynecomastia.
Are there factors that cause gynecomastia?
The most frequent cause of gynecomastia is the pubertal cause that is provoked by hormonal disorders during adolescence and then remains. But then there are other causes such as aging or patients who go to the gym and take anabolic steroids to increase muscle mass, which also make the male mammary gland grow. It can also be caused by other medications such as gastric protectors or propecia, a medication used for hair loss.
What type of patients are suitable for this type of surgery?
Any patient who has gynecomastia is susceptible to surgical treatment, besides there is no other type of treatment that eliminates gynecomastia. Some hormonal treatments may be helpful at first, but as a general rule it is necessary to resort to surgery. Obviously, patients who are overweight, obese, are first recommended to lose weight to see the real volume of gynecomastia there is and that it is not due to excess fat.
What type of anesthesia will be used?
As a general rule, we use general anesthesia, however, in patients who have very little gland or who have what is called a protruding nipple or who have already had surgery and only require a touch-up, we can use local anesthesia. But for most patients we prefer to put them to sleep so we can treat the area well and do a liposuction etc…
What results can be expected after surgery?
Normally, the surgical treatment completely solves the gynecomastia. In a month or so we can see the results. A patient who has a developed breast in a month can appreciate that she has a flat chest and that aesthetically she is fine. However, the area will not be well for months. The healing of the surgical treatment of gynecomastia takes time to normalize, between half a year and a year. Unless there is a very large excess of skin, as a general rule, the treatments are definitive in a single session. If there is excess skin, it can be assessed in a second part if we need to do something else.
Can the breasts grow back?
As a general rule, the breasts do not develop again, although to improve the aesthetic result we always leave a small tablet of a couple of millimeters of gland under the areola to avoid that the areola sinks, is fixed to the pectoral and looks bad. We must take into account that in certain circumstances we could have a little growth of that glandular lozenge, for example, if a patient returns to take anabolic steroids or is taking a medication that can lead to gynecomastia could again have a small lozenge in the areola but never as large as the one he had.
How long does it take to resume daily activities?
Normal activities after treatment will depend a little bit on the treatment we have done. In any case, as a general rule, a patient operated on for gynecomastia after three or four days can return to work, can drive, what you have to avoid are physical exercises in the chest area at least for a couple of weeks. From the second week they can begin to do something, less muscular for which we would have to wait at least a month. Recovery is fairly quick considering you will have your bruising, your swelling for a couple of weeks or three, but to resume full normal activity you have to figure a month.