How bad is my gynecomastia? (Photo)

So i have had gynecomastia since i was 9 i am now 22 and it keeps getting worse i been lifting for a while now but they keep getting bigger . how bad does it look? what can i do to make them go down . How much do you think surgery would be ?

Doctor Answers (11)

Severe Gynecomastia.

Before your pictures. I'm sure it took a lot of courage to take those pictures. You have a severe case of gynecomastia. Would recommend surgery to remove the excess fat/breast tissue. Excision of the tissue and excess skin is needed.  Prices vary but consultation would narrow it down for you.

Atlanta Plastic Surgeon
5.0 out of 5 stars 9 reviews

How bad is my gynecomastia?

Appears as a severe form of gynecomastia. Best to seek endocrine work up before having simple mastectomies correction surgery... 

Darryl J. Blinski, MD
Miami Plastic Surgeon
4.5 out of 5 stars 65 reviews

Gynaecomastia questions

Hi there,

You have quite large gynaecomastia, which is enlargement of the male breast.

Mostly this is simply inherited, or weight related.  Occasionally hormone imbalances or some medications can cause it.  A checkup from your family doctor may be needed to rule these out.

The usual treatment of gynaecomastia is surgical removal of the breast tissue.

The results however, are all about the skin.  If the skin is elastic, and not too plentiful, and if the amount of removal isn't too much then none of your skin needs to be removed.  This means that you can have very close to scarless surgery. Most of the excess tissue can be removed by liposuction, and the rest through a small incision at  the edge of the nipple. The skin will then take up and not look loose.

You are at risk of having loose skin after removal of the breast tissue.  If that occurs, then skin removal results in a long scar across the chest, which is quite visible.  

How do you reduce your risk of excess skin?

1. You are very overweight.  Lose weight.  I'm serious.  You must do this, and it will solve a fair bit of your chest problem, and allow the skin to shrink back naturally to an extent. It won't remove the need for surgery, but it might remove the need to leave you visibly scarred. If you don't lose the weight and get lean, you've no chance of a good result in my opinion.
2. Visit a board certified plastic surgeon in your area to discuss techniques of correction.  I think that the more your excess tissue can be removed by liposuction to your entire chest, the less the chance of needing skin removal.
3. A personal examination is needed by the surgeon to properly assess your skin elasticity, and their experience will further inform you as to whether you have skin elastic enough to retract and recover after the tissue removal.  

I hope you do all this, it will make a huge difference to your life quality and body comfort, and I wish you very well with it.

Howard Webster.

Howard Webster, MBBS, FRACS
Melbourne Plastic Surgeon
5.0 out of 5 stars 68 reviews

How bad is gynecomastia?

Thanks for your photos to review. I think that your gynecomastia is moderately severe. You have a large amount of excess glandular tissue and your nipple looks to be at or below your crease. The good think you have going for you is that it looks like your skin quality is good. you most likely will need at least a peri areolar skin reduction in addition to removal of the excess tissue. Good luck.

Ronald Schuster, MD
Baltimore Plastic Surgeon
4.5 out of 5 stars 30 reviews


Believe it or not, many of my gynecomastia patients specifically do not work out their chests because they have had the same experience as you.  When the pectoralis muscle gets bigger it actually makes the breast appear larger.  You have definite gynecomastia that will not resolve through diet or exercise.  Please contact a board certified plastic surgeon in your area and they can even give you a ball park quote for surgery over the phone.  No one can give you exact numbers until they examine you in a face to face consultation.  I do wish you the best of luck,  we are out there for you and ready to help.  

Melinda Haws, MD
Nashville Plastic Surgeon
4.5 out of 5 stars 22 reviews


Clearly you have gynecomastia and would benefit from excision.  The surgery could be performed after a full physical exam and blood tests and X-rays as needed

Dr Corbin

Frederic H. Corbin, MD
Brea Plastic Surgeon
5.0 out of 5 stars 34 reviews

Weight and gynecomastia

You definitely have gynecomastia but it would be helpful if you lost weight as well.  Best of luck, you probably will require skin excision as well.

Steven Wallach, MD
Manhattan Plastic Surgeon
4.5 out of 5 stars 18 reviews

Severe gynecomastia requires mastectomy

You have a severe gynecomastia.  Consult an endocrinologiist to rule out genetic and hormonal issues that are causing such a severe breast development.
However surgical treatment will require mastectomy.  It is a major surgery.

Vasdev Rai, MD
Dallas Plastic Surgeon
5.0 out of 5 stars 12 reviews


You definitely have a significant gynecomastia that only surgery will do anything for. Before seeking surgery, however, I would lose a significant amount of weight first so that the new chest can be set to the proper contour. You need to lose enough waist to about a 33-35 inch waist at most. Not only will this make the surgery results better, but it will make you much healthier.

Robert T. Buchanan, MD
Highlands Plastic Surgeon
5.0 out of 5 stars 4 reviews


clearly the problem is significant although this is always a subjective judgement. given the history and looking at the overall picture I would think the first thing you want to do is make a serious attempt at losing weightand seeing if this has any effect at all.. This will still require surgery and it's important that you have realistic expectations because it is likely the results will be less than perfect. 

Sherwood Baxt, MD
Paramus Plastic Surgeon
4.5 out of 5 stars 12 reviews
