What is Gynecomastia?
"What is Gynecomastia?" is the first question people ask, and the second one is "What causes male breast enlargement ?" Causes range from hormonal changes during puberty, taking certain medications or drugs, and genetic predisposition. Approximately 70% of healthy teenage boys, between the ages of 12-14 years of age, experience some changes in their breasts during puberty. This is usually a result of hormones and goes away after a couple of years. However, in some cases, the breasts naturally develop into a more feminine appearance without any specific reason or cause. Even in these situations, the problem is treatable with male breast reduction surgery, and the correction is permanent. To date, there are no medications proven to get rid of gynecomastia.
The most common causes of gynecomastia are:
- Excess body fat - Increased body fat in men often lies within the breast tissue. This excess body fat causes estrogen (a female hormone) to increase in the blood, which causes breast tissue to grow.
- Anabolic steroid use - Gynecomastia is a common side effect of continued steroid use. Men naturally produce small amounts of estrogen, however when steroids are used estrogen levels rise, which can result in breast enlargement.
- Medications - Avadart, Propecia,and many pro-hormones taken to increase muscle mass or for therapy treatments are also known to cause hormonal imbalances resulting in increased breast enlargement.
- Natural hormone imbalances - In some situations a man naturally produces too much estrogen or has other hormone ratios which are not where they should be.
There are some more information and definitions of various gynecomastia, which you can find more contentive:
Diets in Gynecomastia: If you have man boobs then you understand the urgency of getting rid of it. There is nothing to like about overdeveloped male breasts but unfortunately it is a reality for millions of men and even young boys. A man boobs diet helping get rid of gynecomastia can be considered but doing this the wrong way can easily backfire.
Hormonal Theraphy: Identifying and managing an underlying primary disorder often alleviates breast enlargement. If hypogonadism (primary or secondary) is the cause of gynecomastia, parenteral or transdermal testosterone replacement therapy is instituted. However, testosterone does have the potential to exacerbate gynecomastia through the aromatization of the exogenous hormone into estradiol.
Revision Gynecomastia Surgery: Gynecomastia revision surgeries comprise about 40 percent of Dr. Ashutosh gynecomastia practice. For the patient that is unhappy with the result of his original gynecomastia surgery, secondary surgery will be his option. These men consult with Dr. Ashutosh for a revision or “redo,” because they are disappointed with their first surgery.
Non Surgical Treatment: Apparently the leading non- surgical treatment methods for gynecomastia are male breast reducing pills which are commercially available to the public. These are drugs that are either in capsule or in tablet form which contains substances that can reduce the breast size within a period. Noticeable results are observed after a few weeks of taking them, and full satisfactory results are guaranteed within six months.
