cjcj
New member
More men, boys are opting for breast-reduction surgeryMonica Watrous
McClatchy Newspapers
Aug. 14, 2007 12:00 AM
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - While breasts have been an object of male obsession for ages, more and more men are becoming fixated on a specific pair: their own.
Many have opted to get that extra something off their chests with breast-reduction surgery, and a number of the patients are adolescent boys.
"Most of these boys have difficulty at school," said Virender Singhal, chief of plastic surgery at Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Mo. "In the locker room, they get teased severely. They have problems making friends or playing sports."
Singhal performs reduction surgeries on patients as young as 14 with a condition known as gynecomastia, or enlarged male breasts, which affects 40 to 70 percent of adolescent boys due to a hormonal fluctuation during puberty. While most grow out of it after two years, about 15 percent continue to experience anything from puffy nipples to C-cup breasts. Even lactation.
Of the 20,000 U.S. males who had the breast surgery last year, nearly 14,000 of them, 70 percent, were ages 13 to 19, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.
"You can hide it by wearing extra layers or binding them with ACE bandages or wearing jackets in the summer, but if you're going to have a normal childhood, that doesn't really work," said Merle Yost, a California-based psychotherapist and author of the book Demystifying Gynecomastia: Men With Breasts.
Yost, who had breast-reduction surgery when he was 35, created a Web site, gynecomastia.org, as a resource and forum for those who suffer the shame of bearing a feminine bust.
"I see boys on the discussion board who are suicidal, who want to take a knife and cut it out, who are morbidly depressed," Yost said. And a far cry from the pop culture references to "moobies" in recent years. In a famous episode of Seinfeld, Kramer invents the Bro (or Mansiere), a "support undergarment specifically designed for men." And in the summer movie Knocked Up, Seth Rogen's character is identified by his "man boobs."
Although presented in comical contexts, both examples regard male breasts as unappealing in a culture that exalts masculinity.
"I think men are more sensitive about their bodies than women," said Beverly Hynes with the Hynes Plastic Surgery Center in Kansas City. "Having breasts equates with being effeminate."
McClatchy Newspapers
Aug. 14, 2007 12:00 AM
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - While breasts have been an object of male obsession for ages, more and more men are becoming fixated on a specific pair: their own.
Many have opted to get that extra something off their chests with breast-reduction surgery, and a number of the patients are adolescent boys.
"Most of these boys have difficulty at school," said Virender Singhal, chief of plastic surgery at Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Mo. "In the locker room, they get teased severely. They have problems making friends or playing sports."
Singhal performs reduction surgeries on patients as young as 14 with a condition known as gynecomastia, or enlarged male breasts, which affects 40 to 70 percent of adolescent boys due to a hormonal fluctuation during puberty. While most grow out of it after two years, about 15 percent continue to experience anything from puffy nipples to C-cup breasts. Even lactation.
Of the 20,000 U.S. males who had the breast surgery last year, nearly 14,000 of them, 70 percent, were ages 13 to 19, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.
"You can hide it by wearing extra layers or binding them with ACE bandages or wearing jackets in the summer, but if you're going to have a normal childhood, that doesn't really work," said Merle Yost, a California-based psychotherapist and author of the book Demystifying Gynecomastia: Men With Breasts.
Yost, who had breast-reduction surgery when he was 35, created a Web site, gynecomastia.org, as a resource and forum for those who suffer the shame of bearing a feminine bust.
"I see boys on the discussion board who are suicidal, who want to take a knife and cut it out, who are morbidly depressed," Yost said. And a far cry from the pop culture references to "moobies" in recent years. In a famous episode of Seinfeld, Kramer invents the Bro (or Mansiere), a "support undergarment specifically designed for men." And in the summer movie Knocked Up, Seth Rogen's character is identified by his "man boobs."
Although presented in comical contexts, both examples regard male breasts as unappealing in a culture that exalts masculinity.
"I think men are more sensitive about their bodies than women," said Beverly Hynes with the Hynes Plastic Surgery Center in Kansas City. "Having breasts equates with being effeminate."
