Gynecomastia and adipomastia: how to deal with them?

Gynecomastiais is a mammary hypertrophy in men. In point of fact, men have two mammary glands. Located under the nipples, these glands in some cases will swell. Breasts then form and over time, they can psychologically damage the men who suffer from them.

There are different types of gynecomastia:

• Unilateral gynecomastia: there is an asymmetry between the two breasts, one is more swollen than the other.
• Diffuse gynecomastia, both nodular and dendritic : gynecomastia is diffuse when it is not defined. On the other hand, it is nodular when it is perfectly defined. Furthermore, it is dendritic when it takes a triangular shape.
• Glandular gynecomastia: when hypertrophy is the result of a fatty cluster, the surgeon can then perform an adipomastia.

What are the causes of gynecomastia?

A man can get gynecomastia when there is a hormonal imbalance between estrogen and androgen levels. Indeed, estrogen stimulates the development of the mammary gland when testosterone slows it down.

When there is an increase in estrogen in men or even a decrease in testosterone production, breast hypertrophy may occur.

However, gynecomastia can also appear with age. Indeed, over time, men produce less androgens therefore in their fifties, it is not uncommon for a slight swelling to appear.

Some drugs can also cause gynecomastia. They block the androgens that cause the mammary glands to swell. Similarly, some drugs such as cannabis, heroin or steroids can block androgens.

Furthermore, breast hypertrophy in men may be due to significant weight gain. In this case, it is the build up of fat that causes breast hypertrophy. The surgeon will then have to perform an adipomastia.

Gynecomastia: how to deal with it

Depending on the case, the gynecomastia operation combines several surgical techniques. The surgeon may use fat liposuction. Using thin cannulas that are inserted into thin incisions, the surgeon will suck out the excess fat. Breast reduction can also be combined with liposuction. This technique allows for the removal of the mammary gland in humans. Thin semi-circular incisions are made by the surgeon around the areola and should result in only a few very fine scars.

Furthermore, the surgeon will have to tighten any loose skin.

In the event that there is a significant amount of sagging skin, the surgeon may remove part of the skin and then re-drape the chest. The length of the scars is then quite variable depending on the extent of the sagging skin.