Gynecomastia (Man Boobs)

I ran into an old secondary school mate the other day and we decided to catch up on old times. We laughed over a lot of things, over stupid pranks we played on each other as youngsters, over fights we had, and over all manna of mischievous activities. We also recalled how he was often teased on end over his “man boobs”.
Oh boy, we gave the guy some serious hard time and would often taunt him with girlish names. He joined us in JSS 3 and as a new student, he would often erupt into violent tempers and attempt to fight everyone but as he realised that students were not likely to relent, as long as he was a student in that school, he decided to stop fighting us, get used to it and even joined us in making fun of himself.

We recalled how he would often dress up in girl’s wear, escape from our hostel to the girls school next door to convey letters to our crushes. Lol good old days

It was not until in my medical school and practicing days did I realise that this was actually a medical condition.
The condition, Gynecomastia is the swelling of the glandular tissue in boys or men, caused by an imbalance of the hormones estrogenic and testosterone. This condition leads to the abnormal development of the breast due to the overdevelopment of breast tissue which can affect one or both breasts.

Gynecomastia must be distinguished from pseudogynecomstia or lipomastia which simply refers to the presence of fat deposits in the breast area of an obese man. It most times develops during adolescent years however in some boys, the breast shrinks away within a couple of years due to hormone levels stabilizing.

Although this condition does not have any health risk, adjusting to this condition is usually a problem because of society. It can affect one mentally and psychologically. My friend told me how the terrible embarrassments he experienced growing up had traumatised him so much that it affected his self-confidence even as an adult.
He talked about how he began to work-out hoping that working out would tone out his chest as well as his “boobs’. He did get toned out quite all right with abs and stuff but unfortunately this did not help the situation. It even ended up making the breasts appear more prominent on his chest. That was when he resulted to wearing baggy shirts to hide his chests.

Asides from the fact that older men and boys may develop Gynecomastia as a result of normal changes in the hormone levels, other causes of this condition may also exist.

CAUSES
Asides from the enlargement of the glandular, Gynecomastia can result from the excessive or abuse of numerous drugs or medication. For example antibiotics, herbal drugs like dong quai, tea tea oil, narcotics etc.
Certain medical condition can also be responsible for this condition too and that includes: Low testosterone levels, kidney failure, cirrhosis of the liver and of course obesity.

TREATMENT
Medications and surgery can be used to treat this condition. However, medications are only effective at the early stages after which it may no longer be effective. Hence surgical removal is usually the most effective and permanent treatment to restore a normal breast appearance.
We operated on that friend of mine two days ago. His reaction when he saw his flat chest and boobs gone was priceless. But what is more priceless for me is the fact that I was able to help him get rid of the condition that has prevented him from living a normal and happier life for years.

Watch out for my Next post.
Grandville Medical and Laser
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