WHAT IN THE WORLD IS GYNECOMASTIA?
The Curse of MOOBS
GYNECOMASTIA is enlargement of the male breast. We see it in 10% of men. Men are often very embarrassed by this and will not take their shirts off at the pool or beach. Gynecomastia can be due to glandular enlargement or fat accumulation. We see 2 different times this develops. One is at puberty and this is mostly glandular enlargement from high hormone levels at this age. The glandular enlargement is similar but not identical to a woman’s breast. The second time we see gynecomastia is as men mature (sometimes called “man boobs” or “moobs”)and this is mostly fat with possibly some gland. It can look worse as the skin loosens with age. If it is mostly glandular we usually need to excise the tissue with a small incision below the nipple. With mostly fat we can treat it by liposuction which has tiny incisions. If there is a lot of skin looseness we may tighten the skin which requires more incisions. Men that have this surgery are usually very grateful and find it changes their life.
October 21st, 2009 at 4:33 pm
Is it true that men who use steroids to increase muscle size are more prone to getting Moobs after they decide to stop using steroids?
October 24th, 2009 at 11:53 am
Hello Emily,
There is increased gynecomastia with anabolic steroids. Some steriod stimulants are worse than others due to stimulation of estrogen production in males.
Cheers, GMK
March 25th, 2010 at 10:26 am
When it comes to men’s health, one of the matters I am passionate about is gynecomastia, and alot of that is due to the fact that I went through it, and all of the supercharged affects which it can have on an individual. So although these funny names for it like man boobs and moobs have popped up, I am grateful that there are still publishers who include some real, helpful information about it and not just jokes. Jokes are ok, as long as they don’t dwarf the fact that this is a issue which many men and boys endure, and that whether they let us know it or not, that it affects their lives in unthinkable ways. It is not as easy as doing some bench presses and taking down your fat ingestion, not to mention the emotional managing. Thanks for anything that you can do to boost this message. Lets all do our part in the crusade to combat chest fat