What Are The Treatment Options For Gynecomastia

What are some of the causes and treatments for gynecomastia? First, we must know what the condition is before we can understand the malady and offer the proper answers. By definition, the condition is simply explained as an enlargement of the glandular tissue of the male breast. There are times in the males’ life when this condition is considered normal such as during infancy, puberty, middle-aged and older age. This condition must be distinguished from pseudo-gynecomastia, which refers to the presence of fat deposits in the breast area in cases of the patient being overweight.

A Look at the Gynecomastia Causes

Gynecomastia is the result of an imbalance in hormone levels, specifically that of estrogen, which is a hormone both males and females naturally produce. These hormone levels can become disrupted for many different reasons, and only testing will show why these levels are being disrupted for a particular patient. Obesity is also listed among gynecomastia causes with this type of condition being labeled as pseudo-gynecomastia, which gives reference to the presence of fat deposits in the breast area.

What Are the Treatment Options?

In some cases, this condition doesn’t need to be treated. Absolving oneself from the use of recreational drugs or those medications that may be causative of hormonal imbalance will sometimes be all that is needed. However, usually your physician will want to issue some tests to determine what may be causing your condition; these tests are done, in most cases, to rule out other diseases such as cirrhosis of the liver and disorders of the male sex organs.

Though this problem can be treated in several different ways once causation has been determined, the psychological problems the patient may suffer should also be addressed. While plastic surgery may indeed treat the physicality of the malady, the psychological aspect of the condition may take years to alleviate. Men who suffer from this condition very often feel embarrassed by the condition causing them to have low self-esteem.

Many men will try to hide their condition by wearing over-sized shirts, thus hiding behind their clothing. While women may be more able to discuss problems in this area, men tend not to discuss these kinds of issues instead preferring to hide the condition. Though it is not recommended, it is a common practice amongst most men to leave the condition untreated.

There are several options when it comes to gynecomastia treatment including plastic surgery, loose clothing, weight loss, and medications. Each of these treatment methods has their own pros and con’s. Plastic surgery will be the quickest method of gynecomastia treatment however, the pain, risk of bleeding and infection associated with this method will be an ever-present threat because of its invasive nature. While clothing may camouflage the physicality of the condition, it of course does not solve the medical condition, not to mention the causation.

Weight loss programs have proven to be a successful gynecomastia treatment and tend to be the safest; however, these programs can be difficult for some to finish and thus the condition will persist. Gynecomastia medication on the other hand is a popular method since it tends to be a safer method and implementation is more easily done, especially when one considers the possible side effects of plastic surgery and the difficulty associated with the other treatment methods. In addition, many times the prescribed medications will relieve the sufferer of the condition much quicker than all other treatment methods.