Male Breast Reduction

Male Breast Reduction surgery, or gynecomastia surgery, is a surgical procedure designed to remove fatty tissue, breast tissue, and sometimes excess skin from a man’s chest. In adolescence, many boys develop excess breast tissue. Most of these cases resolve on their own. However, some cases do not resolve and persist into adulthood.

The persistence of this fatty breast tissue into adulthood can cause the male patient to feel self-conscious about removing his shirt in public or intimate settings.

Dr. Farahmand offers different types of gynecomastia surgery, or male breast reduction surgery.

The Consult
At this appointment, Dr. Farahmand will review your health history and examine your breasts. She will be evaluating the quality of your skin, the amount of fatty tissue present, and the amount of breast tissue present. She will give you her recommendation as to which procedure she feels would give you the best improvement. For younger adults with tight, elastic skin, liposuctioning may be all that is needed. For older adults or adults with an excess of skin, direct excision of the skin and breast tissue may be necessary. Dr. Farahmand will go over incision placement with you at this visit. She will also create a pre-operative plan based on your medical history.

The Pre-operative Appointment
At this visit, Dr. Farahmand will review with you your pre-operative and post-operative instructions. She will also review with you the placement of the incisions. Photos will be taken and your vital signs will be recorded. You will be able to ask Dr. Farahmand any questions about your surgery.

The Surgery
The specific procedure selected for male breast reduction surgery will depend on the amount of excess fatty tissue, breast tissue, and skin present. For patients with minimal skin excess and tight ,elastic skin, liposuctioning may be all that is necessary.For patients with less elastic skin and more skin excess, direct excision of skin and breast tissue may be necessary. Sometimes only an incision that is placed along the border of the areola is used. In extreme cases, an incision around the areola , a vertical scar, and a horizontal scar in the inframammary crease is needed. The surgery is performed under general anesthesia as an outpatient procedure. For direct excisions, drains may be used.

The type of recovery following male breast reduction surgery , or gynecomastia surgery, depends on the extent of the procedure selected. Patients are given a compression vest to wear for three weeks under their clothes. Pain medications are given to control discomfort. Often, patients take approximately one week off from work. Other patients may want to take off more time from work depending on the type of work they perform.

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