Men With Boobs
Andrew Rynne
I am a retired medical practitioner and the Author of two published books, with a third on its way.. - The Reverend Psychopath, The Foxhunter. -- a tragedy of medical negligence and an autobiography.
Recently I was asked by an Online Patient what could be done for a 39 year old man with prominent breasts.
The medical term for men with boobs is gynecomastia. It is not at all uncommon and can be very stressful and embarrassing for the sufferer.
The commonest type of gynecomastia is seen in young men,within a few years at most, from having been through puberty. During puberty in boys there often is a transient imbalance between male and female hormone -- testosterone and oestragen where the later dominated.
It is this transient imbalance and dominance of oestragen in very young men that causes the gynecomastia. They need to be reassured that this is only a temporary situation, that no treatment is required and that everything will settle back to normal in a matter of a year or so.
In about 10% of cases however this does not happen and the young man goes on to develop true gynecomastia. The only way to fix this is through formal surgery to remove the breast tissue. Liposuction will not do it. Weight loss won't do it either.
Another form of gynicomastia to affect men in later life is weight gain with raise oestragen levels. These men should be encouraged to loose weight though that will not solve their problem. They may benefit from testosterone replacement therapy and oestragen suppressing medication but to really fix the problem they too will need formal surgery.
Some long-term medications like anti-ulcer drugs and those used to manage schizophrenia, the so-called anti-psychotics, because they raise prolactin levels can give rise to gynicomastia.
Finally there is pituitary disease. Sometimes the only symptom of pituitary malfunction is gynicomastia. That is why it is always a good idea in men who develop breasts in later life that they are given a full hormonal blood screen.