Gynecomastia and hypersensitive nipples. 48 year old male.

Most gynecomastia surgical procedures will involve excision of tissue from right under the areolae and nipples. This will often interrupt the nerves and result in numbness. There’s usually some nerve recovery but in many cases the sensation remains decreased. Nobody can guarantee permanent results but it’s certainly worth trying before you consider any more aggressive methods to treat the hypersensitivity.

If you have excess tissues on your chest, then male breast reduction surgery may be beneficial.  After having done many thousands of these procedures, I have found that the retention of nipple sensation is extremely variable -- there is simply no way to predict whether you will retain your hypersensitivity or whether it will be reduced -- or whether your nipples will have absent sensation after surgery (which is a rarity). Understand, there is no "one" nerve that provides sensation -- it is a plexus of tiny nerve fibers, any or all of which may survive after the operation.

I would strongly advise you to seek the services of a plastic surgeon who has sufficient interest and expertise in the operation.

You can learn more about gynecomastia surgery by referring to my website, which is exclusively devoted to gynecomastia.  It is captioned below.

Elliot W. Jacobs, MD, FACS
New York City

Surgery can definitely improve your chest contour. However, how it will impact your nipple sensitivity is a bit less predictable. It could make the nipples less sensitive. But it could also make them more sensitive. My best advice would be for you to schedule a consultation with a board certified plastic to be examined in person and discuss. Best of luck.

Hi suburbs,Thanks for the post. Certainly surgery will help achieve a normal chest contour bu addressing the excess tissue. However, surgery may or may not help with the hyper-sensitivity issue. Patients may have any type of sensation changes after surgery, from no change, to less sensation, and in some cases more sensation. I would pursue surgery if the gynecomastia is the main issue that bothers you. Sincerely, Dr. Dadvand

Certainly your gynecomastia can be treated. I will caution you that your sensitivity to your nipples may not change, may get worse, or may improve with the surgery. It is hard to predict..

Treatment of gynecomastia usually involves resection of a nodule of solid breast tissue under the nipple/areola. This generally denervates the nipple area so treatment of the gynecomastia may be all you need. However, when the nerves do grow back (though never as dense as prior to surgery) you can get some dysesthesia. This is, however, usually easily treated by a surgeon familiar with treating nerve injuries. Therefore, you should select a plastic surgeon who also has experience with hand surgery, the specialty that most frequently deals with peripheral nerve problems.

There are two types of tissue in male breasts. The first is glandular tissue which is quite sensitive.The second type of tissue is fat (adipose) tissue which is not sensitive. It is standard to have improvement with regards to sensitivity after surgery for correction of gynecomastia.