Male Breast Reduction
Gynecomastia

Gynecomastia is the medical term for abnormal breast development in males. A fairly common condition affecting almost half of males during development, it can occur on one or both sides of the chest, and is the result of excessive breast tissue, fat, or both.

In some cases, the condition is due to a normal or "physiological" phase of development. It can occur with the onset of puberty, but usually regresses by age 20. It can also occur with aging in otherwise healthy males.

Other "pathological" causes of abnormal male breast growth can occur, either due to decreased production of testosterone (male hormone), increased production of estrogen (female hormone), or certain drugs.

The use of anabolic steroids (used by body builders), and other drugs (marijuana, alcohol, cimetidine, spironolactone, some anti-depressants, for example) can be the cause of gynecomastia. Gynecomastia can be a sign of liver disease. But the majority of cases have no known cause.

Certainly, most affected adolescent boys will "grow out of it" if no treatment is rendered. If this does not occur, treatment is available to reduce the size of the soft tissues, either by removal of fatty tissue using liposuction, or by open removal of breast gland tissue using a small incision around the areola, or pigmented area of the nipple.

In more extensive cases with large amounts of excessive skin, larger skin incisions (and therefore larger scars) are necessary to remove the redundant skin.