Swollen Breasts After Gynecomastia Surgery? (photo)

Following #Gynecomastia surgery, your #incisions will go through a maturation process. For the first few months they will be red and possibly raised and/or firm. As the scar matures, after 6-12 months, it becomes soft, pale, flat, and much less noticeable. You may experience numbness, tingling, burning, “crawling”, or other peculiar sensations around the surgical area. This is a result of the healing of tiny fibers which are trapped in the incision site. These symptoms will disappear. Some people are prone to keloids, which is an abnormal scar that becomes prominent. If you or a blood relative has a tendency to keloid formation, please inform the doctor.Bruising and #swelling are normal and usually increase slightly after the removal of any tape or foam. The bruising will decrease over 3-4 weeks, but may last as long as 6 weeks. The majority of the swelling will be gone within the first 3-4 weeks. However, it may take 6-9 weeks to disappear completely. 

Also, as you heal, the area may feel “lumpy” and irregular. This, too, decreases with time, and massaging these areas will help soften the scar tissue. The #compression garment helps reduce the swelling, and the longer it is worn, the more quickly you will #heal. It can also assist in the retraction of the skin. If you have any concerns about #healing, its best to ask questions of your surgeon or their nursing staff.

Thanks for photos.  2 weeks is far too early to tell what your result will look like.  Your chest will be swollen for months.  So you will have to be patient to let things settle.   Exercise can reduce body fat but not breast tissue.

Two weeks post op is way too early to evaluate the outcome of your surgery.  Give it at least 6-8 weeks.  Communicate any concerns with your surgeon.  Good luck and be safe.John T.
Nguyen, MD, FACS, FICSDouble Board
Certified Plastic Surgeon

       There is residual swelling at this point, and this appearance will change.  Kenneth Hughes, MD Los Angeles, CA

Hi Ramirez,Thanks for the post and the photos. At 2 weeks you are very early in the healing process. The one thing you would need to be evaluated for is a fluid collection or seroma. If this is the case, it would need to be drained.  Otherwise, swelling can take weeks to settle. Certain things can limit swelling, such as decreased activity and wearing a compression vest, but it is impossible to avoid some swelling. I recommend you contact your surgeon and be evaluated in person.Sincerely,Dr. Dadvand

Thank you for the question. Although your concerns are understandable, your best friends at this point will be patience and time. Other maneuvers for improved incision line healing, such as massage, tape, application of silicone-based products etc. may all be helpful;  best to discuss with your plastic surgeon what his/her recommendations are.

Best wishes; hopefully you will be pleased with the long-term outcome of the procedure performed.

Hi

2 weeks post op is too early to decide is this is going to be a long term problem.   I think you need to wait about 6-12 weeks before you can see what the final result will be.  You may also have a seroma collecting which will slowly increase and feel like some fluuid is under the skin.  If this is the case it may continue to collect and then the fliud will resorb of its own acorrd.  If they beome painful and red you should contact your surgeon for a review as t may indicate some infection.

Regards

Stephen Salerno

Based on the photos, you certainly appear to be fairly full still, and this may be related to swelling.  It appears to be symmetric, so it's unlikely to be related to something like a hematoma (blood collection) or seroma (fluid collection).  You should speak with your surgeon to get an idea of how aggressive a procedure was done and what you might expect in terms of outcome.  

With regard to exercise after the surgery, you will see improvement with decreased body fat percentage, as the fat in the chest will also reduce.  Unfortunately, in many men who have gynecomastia, the breast fat tends to be resistant to conventional dieting and fat loss, which is why surgery is often the only way to get improvement.  You don't want to "lose the fat" then "build the muscle"--you really want to do them at the same time.  So training your chest will help to build the muscles and burning the fat will help to show those muscles off. 

Good luck,

Rick Silverman

You are still very early in the post operative period. If you had any significant liposuction with your gynecomastia surgery swelling is expected at this point. If you had a sudden onset of swelling it is possible that you have a hematoma.  If you have questions your best resource is your surgeon.  

You are very swollen in that photo. It is impossible to tell if this is general swelling or if you have a collection of fluid in the area based on the photos, but it would be reasonable to call your physician to be evaluated. If it is simply swelling it will go down over the next several weeks to months. If there is a collection of fluid in the space where the breast tissue was removed, it might resolve more quickly if the fluid is removed. In the meantime, you should really be limiting your activity to allow the swelling to go down. Too much activity will prolong the time you are swollen.