Francois J Duminy

PLASTIC & RECONSTRUCTIVE SURGEON

MALE BREAST REDUCTION BY SURGERY

 

In this case, the breast tissue needs to be surgically removed. This is because it is mostly solid breast tissue and not soft fatty tissue that can be sucked out.

The scars that have been made in the past, similar to female breast reduction's scars, have never appealed to us. Without being sexist in any way, and with sensitivity to the many cultures we serve, we believe that women can often get away with wearing appropriate clothing to cover scars e.g. swimwear. Men are expected in most societies to swim topless. For women, having had large breasts and choosing to make them smaller, is socially, morally and ethically highly acceptable. For most young men, having large breasts is not really acceptable and the stigmata of scars associated with making the breasts smaller would be there for life.

We therefore, have developed a method to reduce male breasts with minimal scarring.

In most cases, we would reduce the fatty tissue as far as possible by liposuction methods.

To remove the remaining solid breast tissue, we make a zig-zag incision along the upper edge of the areola.

This enables the wound to stretch a lot.

Through this ragged incision we dissect out, and remove the breast tissue which is always sent away for histological analysis.

We then suture the ragged wounds closed in exactly the way they were cut leaving such a "squiggly" scar on the edge of two different colours of skin that most people would hardly be able to recognise it as a scar.

Click HERE to see a naive representation of the procedure.

 

Benefits experienced by most patients:

1. Flattening of the breasts

2. Improved self-image leading to greater confidence

3. The ability to wear swimwear and T-Shirts with greater confidence.

 

Negative effects

1. Despite our best efforts, there is a little scar

2. Sensation in the nipple and areola may be altered

3. Surgical complications such as Infection, Haematoma, Seroma are a possible part of any operation.

4. We often have to use drains in the early post-operative period.