The First Thing I Wanted to Do Was Swim

In the box about what worried them while considering surgery, there was one line: "The surgical scar and the pain worried me most." These two are also the questions raised most often in gynecomastia consultations.

The incision follows the areolar border. Because it sits where skin color naturally changes, it tends to blend into that boundary as healing progresses. But how much scarring remains and how quickly it fades vary from person to person with constitution, the extent of excision, and recovery care. Pain likewise varies widely between individuals. So rather than saying there is none, I explain in advance what pain may occur at which point and how it is managed.

For their first impression of the clinic, they wrote: "I was glad there were no female staff."

Gynecomastia is a concern that requires taking off your shirt and showing your chest during the examination. Who is present changes the size of that burden. It may look like a small thing, but there really are people who put off walking through the door for years because of it.

You must not get into water before the surgical wound has healed. Swimming has to be judged alongside the state of the wound and the compression-garment schedule, so the starting point is advised at follow-up visits while checking your progress. Rather than fixing a date in advance, it is better to set it according to how recovery goes.

This person wrote to others with the same concern: do not agonize, start with a consultation. They also left a note that it had been a satisfying surgery. That is their experience, and whether to have surgery is something to decide after confirming your own condition through an examination. Depending on the condition, surgery is sometimes unnecessary, and sometimes it is better to postpone.

I hope you spend next summer at the pool.