Gynaecomastia surgery can help men both physically and psychologically.

Having excess skin removed can stop chafing and rashes, as well as reducing the size of your nipples (if needed). It can also boost your confidence by giving you a more masculine-looking chest.

We offer two types of male chest reduction surgery: sub-areolar button removal and full open correction.

The surgery takes between an hour and two and a half hours, depending upon which procedure, or combination of procedures you need.

Gynaecomastia surgery is usually performed under a general anaesthetic, so you’ll be asleep during the operation. However, for smaller cases of gynaecomastia (a sub-areolar button), it can also be performed under local anaesthetic.

Every operation carries some risk, which your Consultant or Breast Care Nurse will discuss with you. Here are some that could occur during gynaecomastia surgery:

• The wound may become infected or break down.
• Bleeding or haematoma (a collection of blood in the wound) that would mean that you’d need to be taken back to theatre to stop the bleeding.
• Lumpy scarring (hypertrophic or keloid scarring) which can be difficult to treat.
• Change in nipple sensation (usually less sensitive, but occasionally more).
• Complete or partial loss of your nipple (a rare, but important, complication).
• Fat necrosis (dying of some areas of fat within the breast). This either shows as an oily discharge from the wound or as the formation of lumps within the breast. It may mean you need to go back to the operating theatre, but can usually be treated as an outpatient with dressings (if the wound has opened) or with massage of any lumps.
• Asymmetry – no chest is perfectly symmetrical. Although we strive to make both sides as equal as possible, there will be differences between them.
• Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolus (PE) – these are blood clots that may occur in the leg (DVT) and travel to the lung (PE) which may be very serious – fortunately they are rare in gynaecomastia surgery.
• Further surgery may be needed to adjust for imperfections or significant differences between the two sides (rates may be up to 15%).

You’ll need to stay in hospital overnight. After a day or two you should be allowed home. We’ll give you painkillers to take with you, as your breasts may be sore and swollen following surgery.

After surgery, the wounds will be dressed in medical tape. This is splash-proof and shower-proof (but not bath-proof). You’ll be able to shower from the day after surgery, and dab the tape dry with a clean towel, kitchen towel or a hairdryer on a cold setting to dry the tapes.

Our ward staff will call you after a couple of days, to make sure you're recovering well. You'll have a telephone consultation with our Breast Care Nurse about a week after surgery. Two weeks after surgery, we'll invite you for a wound check to remove any dressings.

At four to six weeks, you'll see the Consultant and we'll give you a number to call if you have any issues.

Six months after your surgery, we'll contact you again to see how you're getting on.

You'll need to wear a firm-fitting compression garment or running top the following day. This will need to be worn day and night for six weeks.

It's important you take your time to recover, as the final shape of your breasts may take months to settle. We advise everybody not to do any strenuous lifting for six weeks post-surgery, but you may be able to drive after two to four weeks if you can safely do an emergency stop. Please check with your insurance company.