Truman Customer Story Column
"I Think I'll Be Able to Wear Light Clothes Often"
This is the one line written by someone who had gynecomastia surgery in July, as what they wanted to do after surgery: "I think I'll be able to wear light clothes often."
For people who have spent several years with gynecomastia, the closet has narrowed. Avoiding thin things, avoiding bright colors, and putting on an extra layer underneath, the clothes they actually take out and wear shrink to just a few.
In Case the Pain Was SevereWhat this person wrote as the reason for putting off surgery was pain. "I was worried the pain after surgery would be severe, but it hurt less than I expected, which was good."
That was their case. Even with the same surgery done the same way, the degree of pain varies greatly from person to person. That is because the amount of glandular tissue to be removed, the extent of the excision, and individual sensitivity to pain differ.
Why We Do Not Say in Advance That It Will Not HurtAt consultation, we do not say first that there will be no pain. We think it is right to explain that it may hurt and in what order we control that pain.
The first few days after surgery, the tightness while wearing the compression garment, and the strange feeling as sensation returns each have a different character depending on the stage. If you know in advance what discomfort comes around when and whether it is within the normal range, the same degree of discomfort feels different. Going through something you expected feels different from going through something you did not.
We explain the flow of the day of surgery in advance. You arrive and your condition is checked, you go through preparation with the anesthesiology team, and the surgery is performed under sedation. The operating surgeon enters the operating room after the anesthesia is complete, so the places where we talk with patients are the consultation room and the recovery room.
After you wake up, we check your condition in the recovery room and explain the result. People who come knowing this order and people who come without knowing it differ noticeably in how tense they are on the day. In the same setting, we also go over what you need to be careful about for the few days after discharge.
About their first visit, they wrote that both the staff and the director were kind and they liked it. To others with the same concern, they left this: "I think it's better not to put it off and to do it soon."
These are the words of someone who put it off for a long time. However, with gynecomastia, the need for and extent of surgery differ depending on the grade and the composition of the tissue, so rather than hurrying, it is better to first confirm your own condition through an examination.
It takes a little more time, even after recovery, for the closet to widen again. The body's recovery and the recovery of habits move at different speeds.
