Managing Excess Skin After Gynecomastia SurgeryAustin Gynecomastia Center

“A nice chest without large, conspicuous scars.”

But the opposite is often true in my experience. I know now that there is an impressive capacity of the chest skin to retract, even when you wouldn’t have thought so on visual and physical examination. I have worked with many patients with gynecomastia in Austin who have responded remarkably well to standard, non-skin removal treatment. The result was good skin retraction with a nice looking chest without large, conspicuous scars that are as obvious as day and night. Why have large scars across your chest that clearly indicate surgery when you can enjoy a positive result with a natural looking chest without scars?

How do I know who is going to respond well to my standard treatment? What happens if I don’t obtain the result that makes my patient happy? Experience matters when it comes to selecting those patients who I feel will succeed with standard treatment. The worst-case scenario is that we need to go back for a secondary procedure 1 year later to remove skin excess and shape up the chest area. This has proven to be very uncommon in my practice because I’m able to make a good decision regarding the best treatment for the individual patient.

Case Study: Excess Skin After Gynecomastia Surgery

This patient picture collage says it all if you look carefully. This is an actual patient who I treated at the Austin Gynecomastia Center. He is seen here several months after the treatment of his significant gynecomastia. His case was not simple — he had lost some weight and his skin was not in the best condition. This made treatment more problematic, because a decision had to be made about treating him with standard, non-skin removal techniques or skin removal with scars across his chest.

The best thing about my vast experience with gynecomastia is that I’m able to make that decision with accuracy. I have learned how well the skin will respond to treatment when dealing with patients whose skin quality varies considerably. There are many cases I treat without skin removal when other surgeons would suggest skin removal is needed because of the sagging nature of the chest. I would feel terrible subjecting a patient to big scars across his chest when he didn’t need it. I have learned from my patients not to underestimate the ability of the chest skin to retract after gynecomastia treatment.

His skin has retracted very well. It’s not perfect but it is perfectly amazing considering where he came from. Isn’t it better to have a natural looking imperfection rather than large scars across the chest that clearly reveal an operation? Don’t get me wrong, I do operate on many patients who need skin excision, but these are always people who clearly need it. Again, the key to optimal treatment is to know when they need the more advanced, expensive, and complicated treatment of skin removal and nipple-areola relocation.

“My complete outlook on life has changed. I have no problem going places anymore. I don’t feel like people are staring at me in the checkout lines. I feel like I fit in more with others around me. This was completely life changing for me. Like I said I just started back dieting. I’m determined to lose the weight. As for the scars. I’m sure they are there for life. But I’m sure as life continues I won’t be self conscious of them.”

Testimonial from actual patient who had significant gynecomastia treatment with an imperfect result but without big scars from skin removal

The biggest observation in this case is that he has lost weight and gotten into shape. Look at the change in his body. Look at what he has achieved. Realize this attitude was jumpstarted by the treatment of his gynecomastia, which freed him up to engage in positive behavior resulting in the changes you see. This is a very big deal! He has a positive body image now. Good things happen when you like your body. The first thing you’ll do every day is shower up and stand in front of the mirror because it’s sure nice to get the positive feedback of a rocking chest!

This case illustrates the mind-body connection. Fix the body and the mind can follow. As always, my hat’s off to all my patients who have taught me how to be a conscientious gynecomastia surgeon.

Making the Right Choice

Why is all this so important to you? The answer is straightforward: You don’t want an inexperienced surgeon to recommend skin removal when you don’t need it. We can’t take those scars back — it’s one and done. It’s very hard for me to consult with patients who have had this open surgery with large scars and they simply didn’t need that form of treatment. That’s why I always recommend that you see several surgeons for a consultation if anyone of them suggest open gynecomastia surgery with skin removal.