Moobs/Man Boobs or as known by the medical community as Gynecomastia is an affliction in men that presents as abnormal swelling of the breast. The normal breast tissue including glandular tissue is usually not developed in men. In some cases, due to any number of reasons, the glandular tissue can enlarge to appear in the form of breasts. This can cause distress in young men in several social situations. Read on to understand how the best liposuction surgeon in Bangalore handles patients with gynecomastia.
Understanding the structure of male breasts
The first step to resolving the issue is to break down it in parts & understand the problem. The breast tissue that enlarges to become visible has two components:
- Fatty Tissue: Made of fat cells
- Glandular Tissue: Made up of enlarged glands & fibrous tissue.
The glandular tissue made up of glands & fibrous tissue is firm and provides the shape & the fatty tissue is soft and fills the shape to provide the appearance of male breasts or moobs.
What causes gynecomastia?
Gynecomastia can be caused due to many reasons including hormonal abnormality, drugs & obesity. While these are the frequent causes, it’s important to understand the underlying issue so that reoccurrence of gynecomastia can be prevented. The best liposuction clinics in Bangalore work on understanding the underlying issue and resolving the root of the issue along with the already built up tissue.
How do you treat gynecomastia?
Mastectomy used to be the popular form of treatment before developments in tumescent liposuction. The problem with the procedure is, that it left a long scar at the removed tissue. Tumescent liposuction resolved the issue as scarring is very minimal in tumescent liposuction. It is regarded as the best treatment of gynecomastia.
Tamoxifen is a common drug advocated for management of Gynecomastia, but surgery remains the most common form of treatment. It is also important to rule out any hormonal abnormality for best results. Selected patients also undergo ultrasound scanning to check for breast pathology.
How does liposuction treat gynecomastia?
Liposuction is essentially the process of removing fatty tissue from under the skin. In gynecomastia, we remove the enlarged tissue under local anaesthesia. 1-2 small holes are enough to enter a cannula extract the tissue. The steps involved in the extraction are:
- Removal of fatty tissue: A powered machine removes the fatty tissue
- Glandular extraction: The enlarged glandular tissue is extracted. This has to be performed with utmost care as the tissue is a little difficult to remove.
- Skin tightening: Removal of the tissue can leave the skin sagging. Lasers are used to break down the tissue to improve the results as it causes the skin to contract & stick to the chest.
How is that better than mastectomy?
Liposuction has several advantages over mastectomy. Ranging from anaesthesia, to the result.
- Liposuction can be performed under local anaesthesia, whereas mastectomy requires general anaesthesia.
- Liposuction is performed through smaller incisions. This reduces scarring by a significant amount. For e.g. scarring in liposuction is ~3mm compared to ~5 cm in mastectomy.
- Liposuction causes minimal loss of blood, whereas there’s significant blood loss in mastectomy, and can often require drains after surgery to remove the collected blood.
- The results are undeniably better as the fat can be sculpted via liposuction, whereas mastectomy can leave tissue at the edges leading to a saucer like deformity.
How can I achieve the best results?
First thing to do is to look for a highly qualified surgeon with a background of handling liposuction procedures. You should also check out the clinic to understand the finer details about the procedure. Talk with your surgeon & clarify all possible doubts. Before undergoing gynecomastia treatment.
Gynecomastia can cause social embarrassment in young men as they might not be able to wear tight fitting clothes, visit gyms, swimming pools, attend religious ceremonies that require disrobing of upper clothes. With proper treatment, these issues can be resolved & the undue psychological stress caused by the problem be alleviated.