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Patient Details
This is a 22 year old war veteran who served in Afghanistan. He complained of gynecomastia that he noted since puberty. As is typically found, he was severely affected by this chest fullness. It affected him every day of his life. On examination, he had what I felt was dense gland or fibroglandular tissue on both sides. His gynecomastia surgery procedure was performed under painless anesthesia (General) and I removed dense tissue on each side (57grams on the right and 73 grams on the left).
He is seen about six months in these photos after surgery. He has two complaints: one is the appearance of the scars at the bottom of his areolas and the other is the belief that there is more tissue fullness that remains on the left side compared to the right side.
My assessment is that his scars are just fine and that there really isn’t any volume difference on each side of his chest. He told me that he felt almost completely recovered from his condition and that the procedure has been more or less “revolutionary” in his life.
I told him that I felt that the issues that he complains about are not worth revising or changing in any way. I told him that compared to most patients, he has healed phenomenally and that he is very lucky compared to most. I told him this not to “blow him off” or to ignore his concerns, but rather to be frank and realistic.
It is not uncommon for gynecomastia sufferers to always find something that isn’t quite right or perfect in some way. For others, they have real issues with the surgery mostly in terms of “hard healing” and scarring and contour irregularities. He, essentially, has none of these issues.
Sometimes I can make improvements in a result. Sometimes there is no need for improvement as the result is quite good. Sometimes patients simply need more time to heal and “adjust” to the changes since treatment. I probably revise about five percent or less of my work. I am happy to perform these procedures for my patients if I feel there is a good chance that I can make them happy and NOT make things worse.
I always have a natural instinct to want to help my patients in a big way. Sometimes the best advice I can give them is to NOT help them with surgery, but instead, help them with spoken words, compassion and understanding.
He is a proud graduate of the Austin Gynecomastia Center. I am very happy for him and his family. I hope that he will spread the word about the benefits of gynecomastia treatment so that others who suffer alone will seek the care they need.
