Gynecomastia Surgery Scars

This is a young male 3 months after his male breast surgery that shows amazing results with no scarring.

Gynecomastia is a condition of enlarged breasts and undesirable contour changes in men, making the male chest more feminine. Gynecomastia surgery scars are likely to develop after the surgery when left unattended.

Gynecomastia surgery is a procedure to remove unwanted excess breast tissue and fat in men, giving them a more masculine appearance. More and more men are having it done at younger ages. The condition is enlarged breasts and undesirable contour changes that make the male chest more feminine. The operation removes unwanted excess breast tissue and fat so the chest is given a more masculine appearance. The only patient shown is a young male at 3 months. No numbered age is given for him or for those younger patients. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons says gynecomastia surgery, also known as male breast reduction, is the surgical correction of overdeveloped or enlarged breasts in men. The incision lengths, the sutures, the steri-strips, the Medrol dose pack, and the Silagen schedule below are this page's own.

Gynecomastia Surgery Scars

Either VASER liposuction can perform gynecomastia surgery on the male chest to remove excess fat and surgically remove excess breast tissue. Both techniques require small incisions below the areola and can leave minimal gynecomastia surgery scars.

Two operations, two incision lengths

When the chest is mostly fat

If a patient has predominantly excess fat in the chest, the VASER liposuction technique can be used alone. A small incision will be made below the areola to allow the liposuction cannula to be placed to emulsify, break down the fat, and remove it via suction.

The small ½ cm incisions for liposuction gynecomastia surgery are closed using a thin absorbable 5-0 plain gut suture for external closure, allowing for a seamless surgical scar. Over the top of the incision line, steri-strips are applied, giving additional strength and eliminating the traditional hash-mark scars. The steri-strips are usually removed approximately two to four weeks post-op. These tiny gynecomastia surgery scars are negligible and eventually fade over time.

The page writes the liposuction cut as ½ cm. That is the only length given for the fat-only opening. Both openings sit below the areola. The fat-only plan says below the areola, and the gland plan says below the male areola. Neither sentence puts the cut through the areola. The cannula uses the smaller opening to emulsify, break down the fat, and remove it by suction. Predominant fat is the fork toward VASER alone. Excess glandular tissue is the fork toward excision. The closure named for it is a single external layer, a thin absorbable 5-0 plain gut suture, plus steri-strips. Seamless is the word used for that scar. Negligible, and a fade over time, are the words used in the next sentence. The photograph above says no scarring. Those three descriptions are not the same sentence.

When glandular tissue has to come out

If a patient has excess glandular breast tissue, then an excision, or removal of breast tissue, must be performed. Excision of glandular tissue is done by making a small 1-2 cm incision below the male areola. This technique allows the surgeon to access the breast tissue and surgically remove the tissue from the chest. Fat alone can stay with VASER. Glandular tissue cannot. The page requires the excision once the gland is the problem.

The incision is closed using an absorbable 5-0 PDS suture for deeper closer using a simple interrupted suture and a running subcutaneous absorbable 5-0 plain gut suture for more superficial closure.

Deeper closer is the page's spelling, and it stays. The excision closure has two suture layers, unlike the liposuction closure. The deep layer is an absorbable 5-0 PDS suture placed as a simple interrupted suture. The superficial layer is a running subcutaneous absorbable 5-0 plain gut suture. No other suture size is named.

Similarly, steri-strips are placed over the incision site to give additional strength and eliminate the external ugly hash-mark scarring. This type of closure allows for minimal gynecomastia surgery scars. Hash-mark scars are the pattern the strips are said to prevent, on both the liposuction cut and the excision cut. On the liposuction cut they are called the traditional hash-mark scars. On the excision cut they are called the external ugly hash-mark scarring. The liposuction scar is also called seamless. Minimal, seamless, negligible, and the photograph's no scarring are four different descriptions, and each one stays with the sentence that uses it.

Occasionally, a liposuction and excision combination technique may be needed. If you consult with a board-certified plastic surgeon, your options will be discussed, and the best procedure for you will be determined. At that time, your surgeon will discuss gynecomastia surgery scarring, what to expect, and how to reduce your chances of scarring. The combination is occasional. It is not the default for either the fat-only chest or the glandular chest.

The scar timeline after surgery

In addition to small incisions and absorbable sutures, other precautions are taken to minimize gynecomastia surgery scars. Tension in incisions equates to scarring, so tension must be minimized. Swelling postoperatively is minimized by placing the patient in a compression garment worn constantly.

The pressure garment reduces swelling and keeps the tissues compressed, so the incision sites do not stretch and widen, decreasing the patient's potential for scarring. It is imperative to minimize swelling. In addition to compression garments, a Medrol dose pack is given to patients to decrease inflammation and thus decrease incision scarring. The page names the dose pack. It does not list a milligram, a tablet count, or a day-by-day taper.

Worn constantly is the only wear instruction. The garment's job, on this page, is to keep the incision from stretching and widening while swelling is present. Tension is treated as the cause of scarring. The garment and the Medrol dose pack are the two swelling controls named before any topical scar care begins. Left unattended is the condition the opening gives for scars that are likely. The steps after that sentence are the attendance: the small cuts, the absorbable sutures, the steri-strips, the garment worn constantly, and the Medrol dose pack. The page does not say those scars stay away if the steps are skipped.

After the steri-strips come off

At postoperative week four, once the steri-strips have been removed, silicone sheets by Silagen are used for scar management for approximately one month. After one month, topical silicone gel can be used for up to six months if needed. The strips themselves are usually removed approximately two to four weeks post-op, and week four is when the sheets are said to start. The page places those two clocks side by side without turning them into a single day count.

In the interim, after the patient is two months postoperative, intense pulsed light (IPL) can be used for any remaining hyperpigmentation at the incision site. The IPL is a light therapy that is absorbed by hyperpigmentation and used as heat to diminish unwanted pigment. Many steps are taken to ensure and minimize gynecomastia surgery scars. The two-month light treatment is called an interim step. It is for pigment that remains, not for a new incision. Silicone sheets by Silagen run for approximately one month after week four. Topical silicone gel can follow for up to six months if needed. The 3 month photograph sits inside that gel window and after the two-month light point. It is not a picture of the six-month end of the gel.

The opening photograph is a young male 3 months after male breast surgery, and it says the result shows no scarring. The opening text says the scars are likely when the surgery is left unattended. The closures then call the scars seamless, negligible, and able to fade. Three months is later than week four and later than the two-month IPL point, and it is earlier than the six-month end of the gel. The photograph and the scar plan both stay.

The scar sits below the areola because that is where both incisions are made. A fat-only chest gets the ½ cm opening. A glandular chest gets the 1-2 cm opening. An occasional combination uses liposuction and excision together. The page says the surgeon will discuss scarring, what to expect, and how to reduce the chances of scarring. It does not give a fee for that discussion.

The book image stays on the page. The download invitation does not. The 1/2 cm cut, the 1-2 cm cut, the two suture plans, and the Silagen and IPL clocks do not depend on that download.