Gynecomastia

15 October Informative Essay A couple of days ago, while searching randomly on Google, I clicked upon the link to an article that was about gynecomastia. Gynecomastia is a condition in which some boys start to develop female-like chest at the start of puberty. Although this condition worries those a lot that experience it, yet they are least likely to share what they experience with others because they don’t want to be made fun of. Most people are not aware of this condition and hence tend to make fun of the individuals that carry gynecomastia. As I read more, I came to know that people tend to go for expensive surgeries in order to get this treated, but most resolve to lie in pain with it because they don’t have the courage to discuss their problem with anyone. Thus, the patient lacks emotional support. I read the readers’ comments at the end of the article and many expressed that they wanted to do something about it but didn’t know how to go about it. This motivated me to interview a surgeon and seek his opinion regarding the treatment of gynecomastia. The first thing I did about it was get an appointment with the surgeon. He is a famous surgeon in a government hospital and has been performing surgeries for over 15 years. I had already prepared a list of questions that I needed his replies to. The questions were; “ How often do you encounter the cases of gynecomastia? What are the possible treatments for gynecomastia? What is the cost of surgery and which is the most cost-effective treatment? How can gynecomastia be prevented? It was a 25 minute semi-structured interview wherein the surgeon’s discussion started from my question and explored several areas that were not supposedly the part of answer. This made the interview all the more informative because I got to learn about things that I had not initially known. The surgeon told me that I have brought up a topic whose surgeries are rare to happen, not because the condition is rare, but because people are not willing to go through the procedure and incur huge cost. The surgeon told me that gynecomastia should preferably be left untreated because the lumps in the chest are benign. They don’t hurt, although most men are not comfortable with the way their chest looks. Possible ways to treat gynecomastia are exercise and diet control, liposuction, and surgery to remove the breast tissue. Most surgeons recommend their patients to exercise regularly and consume diet with reduced fat content. If strictly followed, these practices are likely to burn the chest fat and make it look flatter. However, since most people can’t control their diet or exercise enough to fight this condition, they have the option of liposuction and/or surgery, though this is a fairly painful and expensive treatment and the body takes time to recover. When the chest has more fat content, people only need liposuction to treat gynecomastia. In other cases, when the breast tissue is larger than usual, surgery is recommended. In some cases, the surgeons use both to remove the fat as well as cut out the breast tissue. The liposuction and/or surgery can cost a patient anywhere between $3000 and $5000. Doctors have very subjective knowledge of the causes of gynecomastia. Although diet and exercise can be done in the very early childhood to prevent gynecomastia from occurring, yet there is little guarantee that it would really not occur. The surgeon said that the best way to cope with the situation is discuss it with friends and family members and be open about it. There is no need to feel ashamed as there is no voluntary involvement of man in it. It just happens with some boys because it is destined to happen! Having acquired the surgeon’s opinion, I made up my mind to become a surgery consultant in the future. There is a lot of misguidance in the hospitals. Patients are directly recommended surgery whether or not they need it just because the surgeon wants to get the fee. From the research I have done, I believe that the surgery doesn’t cost a surgeon anywhere near what he/she charges the patient. Its cost is that high only because the surgeons want to cash the patient’s look-consciousness and are aware that the patient would agree to pay whatever it takes to get rid of the condition. As a surgery consultant, I would make rational assessment about what treatment suits a particular patient and would try to my best to get it treated without surgery. In case surgery is inevitable, I would recommend the patient to the surgeon who charges the least for the surgery, and generates the best results.