Gynecomastia - Breast Reduction for Men

Hi, I’m Dr. Adam Basner and I’m a board-certified plastic surgeon. In this video I’m going to talk to you about gynecomastia or breast reduction for men. Gynecomastia is a very common problem in men, much more so than people realize, and it can often lead to significant social difficulties. Difficulty wearing clothing often requiring people to wear two layers of clothing in order to camouflage it and certainly difficultly at the beach or the pool. Breast development in a young boy is natural during puberty. Just about every boy develops some breast issue. For most boys this goes away. However, in many people it persists throughout adulthood causing the problem of gynecomastia. There are three important things to think about in treating gynecomastia. The first two are figuring out what is composing the gynecomastia. Just like a female breast it can be composed of fatty tissue or glandular tissue. Glandular tissue is firmer and harder than the fatty tissue. The reason that this is an important distinction is that they are treated differently. The fatty tissue is simply removed with liposuction. However, if there is glandular tissue, and that usually happens under the nipple or areola, then a tiny incision under the areola needs to be made in order to remove this. Both of these incisions heal without any visible evidence of scaring and really are inconsequential. The third factor to consider though with gynecomastia is the skin envelope and the position of the nipple and areola. In some men, through no fault of their own, the nipple and areola drop down low due to the significant gynecomastia development. In these men, we need to do a procedure to lift the nipple and areola and maybe remove excess skin. This, sometimes, can cause visible incisions. During your personal consultation, if this is an issue for you, we will have long discussions about this on how to minimize scarring so no one can see it in order to give you the best, most natural results. Please take some time to review my before and after photographs. If you think gynecomastia surgery is right for you, please contact my office and I’ll be happy to set up your own personal consultation.