How Does Gynecomastia Affect Boys and Men?
Gynecomastia, abnormal enlargement of breast tissue in men, is a nightmare for males. You can be one of those aging people who have sagging skin and tissue everywhere, including your breasts. Or you can be a bullied pubertal teen in high school because of his female like body. Or you can be one of the concerned parents of a child with overdeveloped breast tissue. Sadly, Gynecomastia can affect men and boys of all ages, i.e., from childhood to puberty, to older age.
Although Gynecomastia affects males of all ages and is rather common, its causes, affect, and treatment can be different for all ages.
Before we inspect the causes and effects, lets first get to know more about gynecomastia below:
Types Of Gynecomastia:
Gynecomastia can be of two types;
- True Gynecomastia:
Gynecomastia occurs because of an imbalance in estrogen and testosterone hormones. If you were unaware, the male body also produces some amount of estrogen. But testosterone is more and abundant; thus, male characteristics are common.
Testosterone levels drop or estrogen levels increase. Your body might begin to show female characteristics. One of these can be breast tissue enlargement.
- False Gynecomastia:
This type of Gynecomastia is because of fat deposits in the breast area. So, it is not an increase in the breast tissue but only fat accumulation that mimics the shape of a female breast.
Are you thinking that what is actually triggering this hormonal imbalance in your body? Well, as mentioned before, the causes of effects and treatment of all ages can be different. Let’s have a look at how Gynecomastia affects boys and men at various stages of life.
Gynecomastia in Infants:
Some infants can have developed breast tissue. It is rather shocking for parents and other relatives that why is it so. However, it’s nothing to be worried about. It can just be some mommy hormones still present in the blood of the baby.
It is very obvious that before birth, the mother and child have the same blood supply. This is just the reason for infant gynecomastia.
Treatment:
This type of Gynecomastia usually doesn’t require treatment and will go away on its own when new blood replaces old.
Gynecomastia in Childhood:
Are you observing breast development in your young children? Have you also noticed their dietary habits?? Usually, children become prey to fast food addiction. This may lead to childhood obesity. Gynecomastia observed at this age may be due to increased fat deposits in the breast tissue.
Treatment:
At such a young age, you can control Gynecomastia by following healthy dietary and exercise schedule. If still obesity and enlarged breasts exist, liposuction can be considered.
Gynecomastia in Adolescents:
Adolescents or in more common words, children are going through puberty come across a lot of physical changes. According to the National Institute of Health, around 50-60% of adolescent males suffer from Gynecomastia.
All of us are aware that changes occurring during puberty are actually because of changes in hormones. Thus, if estrogen levels rise above the normal level, it may cause the breast tissue to grow.
Treatment:
These hormonal fluctuations are temporary and by the time you reach your 20’s the condition resolves on its own.
Sadly, this is not the case every time. You might need to consider hormonal medication. Moreover, cosmetic procedures such as liposuction and removal of excess tissue with gynecomastia surgery are helpful options for you.
Gynecomastia in Adults and Older Adults:
You’ll be surprised to know that Gynecomastia is very much prevalent among adult men. Want to know what national institute of health study says about this? According to them, 65%of males from ages 27 to 92 will encounter overdeveloped breasts.
Symptoms that adult men will experience are somewhat the same as adolescents. These are a lump of fat right under the nipple. Or a breast is growing more than the other. At some times, one might also experience pain and discomfort.
Anyhow the causes are more than just hormonal imbalance. Hormones do vary with age, but some other reasons are:
- Injuries or surgeries that affect testes which are responsible for testosterone production
- Cancers of lungs, pituitary, or adrenal gland.
- Problems in the thyroid gland, which is responsible for controlling sexual hormones.
- Obesity resulting in more fat deposits in breasts.
- Medicines of cancer, heart disease, and obesity.
- Alcohol abuse
- Over dosage of recreational drugs such as marijuana.
Treatment:
While seeking treatment at this stage of life, it is very important that your doctor first recommend some medical tests. When chances of cancer, liver, or kidney disease are ruled out, only then move ahead to the treatment for Gynecomastia.
Your doctor will recommend medicines to treat the underlying cause of Gynecomastia, whether it is irregularity of hormones or diseases e.g., hyperthyroidism.
If your enlarged breast does not flatten out, you might need some surgical procedure. For this you have two options:
- Liposuction:
If breast enlargement is due to excess fat deposit that fat is removed with liposuction
- Gynecomastia Surgery:
If the glandular breast tissue has increased in size; it must be removed surgically.
At every age, Gynecomastia has a different face. It can go away on its own or stay there forever. You can discard this permanently in just a few hours because of so much advancement in cosmetic surgery. But remember before you go for surgery, you need to be sure that your surgeon is a board-certified one. He should be able to identify the underlying cause and suggest treatment likewise.
About Us:
Are you looking to get rid of your abnormally overdeveloped breasts? Want to get rid of all the embarrassment and bullying? Let Dr. Arif Hussain do this who goes the extra mile to satisfy every single patient of him fully.
With having years of experience in cosmetic surgery and after dealing with a number of gynecomastia cases successfully, he will not disappoint you.
More convincingly, he makes use of cutting-edge technology as well as up-to-the-minute surgery tools, in particular, the power X machine. This is how he gets in the bag maximum client satisfaction. Feel free to contact for booking an appointment today.
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