Male patients with enlarged breasts often come to us with questions regarding gynecomastia vs fat. Naturally, they want to know if what they have is “true gynecomastia”, meaning glandular breast tissue, or “pseudo gynecomastia”, which could be a combination of excessive glandular breast tissue, excess fat, fatty tissue, combination tissue, loose skin, etc.

In this article, we’ll go over what you need to know about excess chest fat vs excess breast tissue and whether it actually makes a difference when it comes to male breast reduction surgery in Houston.

Gynecomastia vs Chest Fat: Does It Matter?

If you take a look at some gynecomastia vs chest fat pictures, you may notice something: You can’t really tell what’s fat and what’s “true gynecomastia” just from looking. In truth, it takes palpating the area to feel if harder lumps or disc-like areas of firmness are present. These would indicate lumps of glandular male breast tissue. When the area is squishy to the touch, this typically indicates fat only.

Often, however, it takes making an incision and going in to extract the excess fat tissue to see exactly what it is. In some patients, what we remove is mostly glandular tissue. In other patients, it’s mostly fatty tissue. In still other patients, it’s a relatively equal combination of the two.

But here’s what’s important to note: it doesn’t really matter when it comes right down to it.

If you are even asking yourself the question, “What is it gynecomastia or fat?” or if you are Googling gynecomastia vs fat pictures or scheduling consultations with gynecomastia surgeons to get rid of man boobs, then chances are, you do have gynecomastia, aka enlarged male breasts. It might be fat, glandular tissues, or even excess skin on your chest. All of these issues can be corrected with the gynecomastia surgical treatment.

At this point, you simply need to ask yourself two questions:

1. Could it be that there are underlying health issues causing this problem?

2. Do I want to get rid of it?

First, if you believe that hormonal imbalances, a medical condition, use of a drug or medication, or other underlying gynecomastia causes may be at the root of your breast enlargement, this may be worth figuring out. Sometimes, medications can be altered, hormonal conditions can be treated, or lifestyle changes can be made to correct the gynecomastia naturally.

If, however, there are no underlying hormonal imbalance conditions, the question now is, “Do you want to get rid of the gynecomastia?” And if the answer is yes, you know you need surgery.

Excess Body Fat

There is typically only one exception to this, and that is if you are severely overweight or obese. In this case, it is possible that losing weight through cardiovascular exercise and a healthy diet may help with the gynecomastia of your chest region. However, this isn’t always true, and furthermore, you may still end up with excess skin even after you lose weight, in which case you would also need surgery to get rid of the loose skin.

What’s the Best Gynecomastia Treatment?

Unfortunately, creams, serums, potions, lotions, special diets, fancy exercises, and lots of other so-called “solutions” abound for the treatment of the gynecomastia. It goes without saying that likely all of these are totally ineffective. Sometimes, certain strength training exercises may help, but it’s rare they can significantly reduce the appearance of gynecomastia.

Instead, male breast reduction surgery is needed to reduce chest fat, skin, and/or excessively large breast glands. Again, gynecomastia or chest fat — it really doesn’t matter. Most of the time, the treatment for regular chest fat and the treatment for excessive glandular tissue are the same.

FAQ: Fat vs Gynecomastia

Will losing fat reduce gynecomastia?

In many cases, yes, if you reduce your overall percentage of body fat, you can often reduce the size of your breasts. However, in some cases, you may not end up reducing the size of your breasts, and in other cases, fat reduction may even make your gynecomastia worse.

This is because frequently, excessively large male breasts can be a chronic issue related to hormones, and the underlying cause may not be improved by fat loss alone. Some men simply have a propensity for accumulating fat in this area, so often, plastic surgery is the only answer.

Are puffy nipples fat or gyno?

Puffy nipples are commonly associated with gynecomastia and chest fat and are frequently one of the symptoms that men with this condition experience. The truth is, puffy nipples can be a sign of fat cells or a sign of glandular tissue.

In the end, as long as the underlying cause is not a serious health issue or detrimental health habit, it doesn’t really matter. Typically, gynecomastia surgery is needed to correct the issue. If the problem arose due to weight gain and excess body fat, working out the chest area and losing body fat can sometimes help.

What is the pinch test for gynecomastia?

The gynecomastia pinch test is sometimes used to determine if a patient has only chest fat or excess tissue (glandular tissue). To perform the test, the patient themselves or a healthcare provider use the thumb and forefinger to palpate each breast and see if any hard lumps or a solid lump sits beneath the nipples.

These lumps are typically indicative of the presence of excess glandular tissue, which means that it’s more likely for hormonal imbalances to be at the root of the condition. If the area is simply soft and squishy, it’s likely that the male breast is made up of mostly excess fat.

Book Your Personal Consultation With Us Today

If you would like to learn more about gynecomastia surgery, please call today to book a consultation appointment with Dr. Ashley Steinberg. Dr. Steinberg is an experienced board certified plastic surgeon who can help with your gynecomastia.

Don’t wait to treat this very common condition. Gynecomastia surgery is an overall safe, very frequently performed procedures that can help you regain your confidence, especially if you’ve been dealing with excess breast tissue and chest fat for years. Call today.