If I have a bra size, 32 , will I be able to get keyhole top surgery?

I appreciate your question and your concerns. 

The two major methods I use for FTM top surgery are double incision mastectomy with nipple grafting and keyhole. Keyhole (also known as peri-areolar) is ideal for small chested transgender men, up to a b-sized chest, with good skin elasticity. During this procedure, an incision is made all around the border of the areola. Additionally, a second, larger concentric circle incision is made and the resulting ring of skin removed. Breast tissue removal and additional liposuction may be performed. A "drawstring" technique is used to bring the skin together and connect it to the edges of the areola, which may be made smaller and more oval in shape to achieve a more masculine looking chest. 
Which method we choose for your top surgery will depend on the size of your breasts. But, rest assured, no matter how much breast tissue there is to remove, there is a surgery for you. Our aim is to help you feel comfortable, happy, and confident in your own skin. 
The best way to assess and give true advice would be an in-person exam.
Please see a board-certified plastic surgeon that specializes in aesthetic and restorative breast surgery.

best of luck!
Dr. Schwartz

Board Certified Plastic Surgeon

#RealSelf100Surgeon

#RealSelfCORESurgeon

Hi,Thanks for the post. The bra number is not the main determinant of surgical technique. The technique mainly has to do with the size of the breast, how much excess skin there is, the skin tone, and the location of the nipples. Smaller breasts wit no skin excess and good skin tone do very well with keyhole surgery. Larger breasts with loose excess skin will do better with double incision. There are other techniques other than these two but these are the two most common approaches. The bra number only refers to the circumference of your chest wall and doesn't necessarily correlate to breast size. Sincerely,Dr. Dadvand

Keyhole surgery is successful for small breasts and elastic breast skin. Please post a photo of your chest for review.

A keyhole technique is best suited for small chested men with good skin elasticity.  A consultation with a board certified plastic surgeon who specializes in chest masculinization can help you to determine which technique is best suited for you.

Thank you for your question. Keyhole surgery is usually appropriate for patients with a small cup size A or less. Larger cup sizes have extra skin and the keyhole technique is not a good way to address the extra skin.

 Patients have to be pretty small in order to do well with keyhole surgery, The 32 number is how you measure around the chest but the cupsize is more important. Usually you need to be an A cup or less. This can be very confusing because obviously not many transgender men wear bras! So what is an A cup? Basically my rule is you want to have no droopiness in the breast whatsoever. That means the nipple sits above where the fold is. If you have that situation you may be a candidate for keyhole surgery. About 1 – 2 out of every 10 guys I see will do very well with either keyhole surgery or a double incision. In this case it comes down to a matter of personal choice. How important is it to you to avoid that scar? One trick I find that is useful in order to help guys predict what their result will look like, is to stand in front of a mirror, and just imagine that someone has sucked all the air out of your breasts and they are completely deflated, now in your mind’s eye, where those nipples are, is exactly where they are going to end up. There is nothing we can do in keyhole surgery that will move them. A problem is that often in a female chest nipples are more closely spaced and if you just deflate everything, the eye can catch that, and it may look a bit unnatural. Also, often if you need a nipple reduction, that may have to happen at a second surgery. I hope this is helpful!