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Plastic Surgery Options for Men
While 85 percent of cosmetic surgery is performed on women, I have not forgotten that men too sometimes need lid lifts, face lifts, liposuction and nose surgery.
We make several accommodations for men, because we have discovered that, in general, they:
- Are more secretive
- Try to go back to work too soon
- Need different incisions to be less conspicuous
- Are less likely to follow instructions
- Tend to bleed a little bit more
- Are more impatient about healing
- Tend to be more anxious about anesthesia
We make allowances for these differences, but otherwise the surgical considerations are about the same, when individualization is factored in. The one procedure that I do for men, that women do not need, is gynecomastia correction.
Gynecomastia is the medical name for large breasts on a man, a condition that is much more common than men think. It occurs in about 8 percent of the normal population and in about 30 percent of those who are overweight. It usually begins before puberty, but is normally outgrown. If your breasts are out of proportion after puberty, then gynecomastia is likely. We have to look for testicular tumors and hormone abnormalities (in 25 years I have yet to find one). Certain medications, some high blood pressure pills or marijuana might be the culprit (I have seen two of these). Commonly, being overweight makes it worse, but rarely will weight loss alone solve the problem.
During the evaluation, I look to see if the excess is fat, tough gritty breast tissue, or extra skin. Some tricky issues include differences in the shape of the chest wall and the size of the pec muscles. I decide the best way to deal with each. Skin elasticity is very crucial to good results. I am able to remove the excess fat with liposuction, but the gritty breast tissue usually needs to be trimmed or cut out, and the skin needs to be trimmed if it’s not expected to shrink when the weight is taken off.
After the outpatient surgery is done (under IV sedation or general anesthesia) you go home with a tight vest that compresses the chest. This must be worn for three weeks. However, it may be taken off for showers, then put right back on. You can hide it under a shirt and usually go back to work in about four days to a week.
After the tissue smoothes out, men with gynecomastia are able to go swimming, take a shower in the gym, or feel comfortable with their partners. For me, this is a very gratifying operation.
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