Men may also have breasts that are
too large – a condition called gynecomastia. It can be extremely embarrassing,
and is not too unusual after hormone treatments – for prostate cancer, for
example. Prostate cancer can be effectively treated with the female sex
hormone, but a side effect of this treatment is that the mammary glands
tend to grow. Some men may even develop a bust of normal size for a woman,
which can be psychologically very disturbing. Bodybuilders who have taken
anabolic steroids can also develop larger mammary glands. The mammary glands
of men can also grow during puberty, giving a feminine look to the chest.
Some men also tend to accumulate fat in this region, and though the gland
itself may be of normal size the fat can look like a breast – a condition
called pseudogynecomastia.
Preparing for the
operation
At the consultation,
the patient should be given objective information on what can be achieved
by the surgery. The surgeon will also
examine the tissue, and can feel how much of
the over-development is due to growth of the gland and how much is fat. These
two components are treated differently in surgery. Unexplained growth of the
mammary gland in men should sometimes be investigated to see whether there
is some hormonal imbalance. No other special preparations are necessary, except
those described in the first section of the book.
