How Do I Get Rid Of These Man-Boobs?

[Surreal]

The rest of my body is slim and athletic but for some reason I have flabby boob-like tissue on my chest! I also seem to have larger than average nipples.

What the HELL is causing this? How do i get rid of it?? Are there any excercises that would help me reduce the affected areas??? Would changing my diet help in any way????

Thanks.

[Happy Lendervedder]

You've got access to boobies 24/7? You lucky SOB!


stv

[happyheathen]

if you are slim and athletic (I HATE you), the answer is:

you were born that way

see a plastic surgeon, if it is worth the time, trouble, and expense.

[Surreal]

I'm sure I wasn't born this way. It started happening when I was a teenager. Before then, flat-chested.

[biker]

there is a medical term for this condition but i can't remember what it is. i worked with a guy who had the same situation and read up on it, but that was ten years ago.

i would check google search engine, type in "male breasts," or something similar.

[OneChance]

It's called gynecomastia. There's some info here: http://www.gynecomastia.org/

[Barking Spider]

I believe the medical term is "gynomastia". Some bodybuilders on steroids get this condition, when the excess testosterone in their system converts to estogen, and gives them what they call "bitch tits".

[DPWhite]

Maybe you are an athletic, slim woman with normal breasts. Ever think of that?

[tsunamisurfer]

Originally posted by DPWhite
Maybe you are an athletic, slim woman with normal breasts. Ever think of that?

Ever think that a cruel, smart-ass, response to someone's obvious pain isn't appropriate and violates SDMB Rule #1: "don't be a jerk"?

What gives you the right to try for a cheap laugh at someone's pain?

[glilly]

A couple years ago, I read a statistic that 2 of 5 people getting breast reduction surgery were men.

Surprised the hell out of me.

Might be the way to go, but it is traumatic surgery--much more difficult than liposuction.

[Pythagoras]

Maybe you should work on your pects. Maybe strong pecs will straighten out your man booby-ness and make you look buff.

[Doug Bowe]

Glilly is correct. One of our morning trivia services posed the question "What plastic surgery is performed the most on U.S. men?"
The correct answer was breast reduction.
Well, hey, you're in a big crowd.

[OneChance]

Originally posted by tsunamisurfer
What gives you the right to try for a cheap laugh at someone's pain?Aren't all cheap laughs based on someone else's pain?

[Ringo]

Ever think that a cruel, smart-ass, response to someone's obvious pain isn't appropriate and violates SDMB Rule #1: "don't be a jerk"?

I've gotta go with tsunamisurfer here.

[kanicbird]

Ever think that a cruel, smart-ass, response to someone's obvious pain isn't appropriate and violates SDMB Rule #1: "don't be a jerk"?

Well there are cases of gender misidenitity. Depending on hormone levels during fetus development you could have the sex organs of one gender (male) but actually have the genes of the other (female - XX). Unlikely but it does happen. I would think that you would be having err, umm other problems if that were the case too.

[Surreal]

tsunamisurfer- "Ever think that a cruel, smart-ass, response to someone's obvious pain isn't appropriate and violates SDMB Rule #1: "don't be a jerk"? "

I'm gonna give DPWhite the benefit of the doubt and assume he must have interpretted "man-boobs" to refer to a woman with a man-like chest, rather than a man with a woman-like chest.

For the record, I am 100%- err, um 98% MALE.

But I definately DO have *gynecomastia*, although it's not as bad as some of the guys in OneChance's link.

[pendgwen]

Do (or did) you smoke pot? Exposure to marijuana is one possible cause of gynecomastia.

[Cull]

Originally posted by pendgwen
Do (or did) you smoke pot? Exposure to marijuana is one possible cause of gynecomastia.

Any sources on this? Sounds like an urban legend...

"Hey, my friend's cousin's nephew's roomate's ex-girlfriend's brother smoked weed... AND THEN HE GREW BOOBIES!!!"

[DPWhite]

My apologies fellow dopers, I thought the original post was yanking our chain. And I have to agree about humor: all of humor is at someone's expense, usually a misunderstanding. So, don't laugh or find any humor amusing, because you are being a vampire off of someone's pain. (Not my original theory, Robert Heinlein's). Remember, guys, no laughter.

And as a 235 pound 6 foot fellow, I'm enough in the club, so there. It's not like we lose sleep over fatty deposits or male pattern baldness.

[pendgwen]

Originally posted by Cull


Any sources on this? Sounds like an urban legend...

"Hey, my friend's cousin's nephew's roomate's ex-girlfriend's brother smoked weed... AND THEN HE GREW BOOBIES!!!"

Well, I remembered it from hight school health classes so I looked it up and found support in medline's medical encyclopedia.
Here's (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003165.htm) my first ever attempt at a link.

[The Griffin]

I have this problem a little bit too. I think the answer is to watch what you eat (not too much fat) get lots of exersise, do loads of press-ups etc. I think it's just a case of your body storing fat there, and you must get rid of it.

[CyberHippy]

Originally posted by pendgwen


Well, I remembered it from hight school health classes so I looked it up and found support in medline's medical encyclopedia.
Here's (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003165.htm) my first ever attempt at a link.

And if you follow the link provided at that site, it leads to a factual description of the effects of marijuana use which includes zero references to gynecomastia.

Google is my friend, and I finally found this quote:

Warnings in some anti-marijuana literature that marijuana use among young men will cause "decreased masculinity" and growth of breasts, and that women will "lose sex appeal" by taking on a sort of "maleness" (hair on chest, face and arms, reduced breast size etc.), are not reasonable warnings for teens. In rare situations, heavy marijuana users have developed some glandular changes, including enlarged breasts in males. These cases are rare and relate to both heavy use and probably physical predisposition.

Source. (http://www.drug-abuse-information.com/four.htm#4-24)

And this:

A few studies have suggested that some cases of gynecomastia may be caused by the use of recreational drugs such as marijuana, though researchers have not conclusively linked gynecomastia to recreational drugs.

Source. (http://www.imaginis.com/breasthealth/bcmen.asp)

Snopes didn't have anything, I think I'll submit it to them because it sounds more like anti-drug propoganda than fact.


CyberHippy, who has small breasts...

[Squink]

http://healthlink.mcw.edu/article/901217600.html
The commonest causes in adults are alcohol-related liver disease and medications, such as cimetidine (anti-ulcer), spironolactone (diuretic for high blood pressure), digoxin (heart drug), and marijuana. Of course any hormone-related disease or ingestion of hormones such as estrogen would need to be ruled out.
Lots of different drugs have estrogen like effects. Estrogen receptors are not infinitely specific to natural hormones, so funny things do on occasion bind to them and provoke various hormonal responses. Marijuana is no exception.
As far as I recall, the information suggesting that marijuana might cause breast enlargement came from a reputable journal back in the early eighties. It was quickly picked up and distorted by the "Just Say No" crowd, but I've never heard that the original finding was in any way questionable.

[kniz]

Originally posted by Surreal
I'm sure I wasn't born this way. It started happening when I was a teenager. Before then, flat-chested.

That's when it happens to females, which pretty much tells you what's going on.

I had an operation (just on one side) by a general surgeon, who called it a mastectomy not plastic surgery. Anyone that has had this condition knows that you'd better not be too thin skinned about it, since someone is bound to notice and razz you about having big tits.

[tsunamisurfer]

Why not go to a physician and get his/her opinion? IANAP, but it's possible that surgery/liposuction might mitigate this condition, but the important thing is to make sure it isn't symptomatic of something more serious. You need the big picture.