Would you recommend liposuction for manboobs?

January 29, 2008 5:20 PM

Does anyone here have personal experience with liposuction for male breast reduction?

I've lost a ton of weight recently, but still carry around fat in the chest, way out of proportion with the rest of my body. I've got a consultation with a liposuction doctor this week, but I'm just wondering ... have any men here actually had this procedure done? Did it work well for you? Would you recommend it? Any questions I ought to ask at the consultation?

posted by anonymous to health & fitness (5 comments total)

Ask them about loose skin.

Now, if you just have some fat on your pecs... and your young, you may get away with the lipo.

The problem will most likely be that even with the lipo, if you have saggy man boobs they will be like empty balloons.

I lost ~150 pounds and have had a tummy tuck, thigh lift and a belt lipectomy ( basically touch up work a year later ) and I have man boobs also.

I keep thinking that the next time I get 5-7k together I will look into a male breast reduction. That way they remove the extra skin also. I do remember my surgeon mentioning that this was the way to go.


Not happening anytime soon though ;) Ahh... the life of the nontraditional student /grin
posted by petethered at 6:51 PM on January 29, 2008

Not a man, but I did have breast reduction surgery. Your doctor is the only person who will be able to answer this question with any degree of accuracy. S/he will be a much better judge of whether you would end up with an ungainly amount of skin after a lipo treatment and whether a traditional male breast reduction procedure would be more appropriate.

As far as doctors go though, definitely shop around. Before I considered the surgery I asked my regular doctor for any recommendations and also checked the history of a bunch of surgeons. Questions to ask include how long they've been practicing, how many procedures they have done on men, how up to date they are on latest procedures, what kind of extended ed they do, what kind of recovery time and side effects might you experience, and where will the procedure be performed.
posted by nerdcore at 7:20 PM on January 29, 2008

Shop around is great advice... I went to a dozen surgeons ( they all do free consults ) before I picked mine on the recommendation of a friend who had work done.


One question you really want to ask is how many preocedures like this ON MEN have they done and some before and after pictures.
posted by petethered at 7:51 PM on January 29, 2008

A good question for any plastic surgeon is if they are board certified. Doctors don't have to be, to perform plastic surgery on you, but it is a good thing if they are.
posted by pinky at 8:17 PM on January 29, 2008

I wonder about this when I watch that weight loss reality tv show "The Biggest Loser". Season after season there are several men on there who lose drastic amounts of weight over really short periods of time. I'm sure a majority of them must suffer from saggy skin and manboobs. It's a cruel joke that this is one of the results of all your hard work and new, healthy lifestyle. I'm sure that show has forums and message boards about this topic. I bet that, at the very least, there are members there who can provide links or stories. The show itself is partly centered on people following along at home, so audience website participation must be pretty active.
posted by iamkimiam at 9:36 PM on January 29, 2008