All You Need To Know About Gynecomastia
I have had several discussions with men in the gym for quite a while about men's gynecomastia. The first thing to get right is usually how to spell...
I have had several discussions with men in the gym for quite a while about men’s gynecomastia. The first thing to get right is usually how to spell it or even say it. I have seen and heard “Gynacomastia”, “Gynocomastia” and “Gynomastia” when setting out to help an individual build a more manly chest.
A number of guys with whom I have had discussions about their chests and who believe that they have gynecomastia, don’t, in fact, have it. The guys that I am referring to are those that are obese or even overweight and have pseudogynecomastia. What, I hear you ask, is the difference? Well, here goes:
The word ‘gynecomastia’ comes from two Greek words…”gyne” meaning “female” and “mastos” meaning “breast”.It therefore does illustrate what happens to a man’s chest, which is abnormal growth of glandular breast tissue. often the condition will occur on one breast , sometimes both breasts or even around just the nipple area.
Pseudogynecomastia or false gynecomastia is really a build-up of adipose or fatty tissue in the male breast and the “pseudo” part comes from the Greek which means “false”. As you can see, it’s because the fatty build-up makes it seem as though the individual has gynecomastia, that pseudogynecomastia is so named and will, of course, be seen on men who are obese or even simplyoverweight.
From my observations during my work in the fitness business, most men with flabby breasts have pseudogynecomastia. Any man with excess tissue on the breast area must get his doctor to have an inspection so that he is certain which condition he has.
If it is simply false gynecomastia that is the issue, then the right mindset plus a targeted program of exercise along with nutritional and lifestyle adjustments, will not just remove the fat off the chest area but from all over the body.
Real gynecomastia does mean that your physician will will need to investigate carefully as to the cause or causes. An imbalance is produced between the levels of the hormone “Androgen” and the hormone “Estrogen” giving rise to the condition. The male hormone is Androgen and the female is therefore Estrogen.
There are several basic causes of this imbalance:
Puberty in boys can bring on gynecomastia but the condition vanishes within 3 years in 93% of them.
Conversely, one of the experiences of aging in men can be a downturn in testosterone production, giving rise to gynecomastia.
Some prescription medications, drugs or ointments can affect liver function which, in turn, gives rise to feminising effects.
In some boys their gynecomastia has been directly linked to consumption of meat or milk from estrogen-treated animals.
It is now understood that one of the effects of using cannabis is to cause an imbalance in the two hormones.
Anabolic steroid use will, in time, cause bodybuilders to develop ‘breasts’ because the body reacts to the extra testosterone and ‘aromatises’ it into the female hormone estrogen.
Imbibing too much alcohol for lengthy periods can upset the hormonal balance and result in gynecomastia.
Tumours of the testes.
Adrenal carcinoma, which is cancer of the hormone-secreting glands near the kidneys.
Hermaphroditism, or the state of possessing both female and male organs.
Kleinfelter’s syndrome, which means a male possessing an extra ‘x’ chromosome.
Congenital adrenal hyperplasia a name applied to a number of disorders caused by various enzyme deficiencies.
Before the 1970’s men did not have much option other than surgery to get rid of their gynecomastia. This cost a lot of money and even then the individual was usually scarred for life. It could be said that the remedy was worse than the original condition.
You can cover up the condition with compression undergarments for a time.
Lipoplasty is increasingly used these days but, along with surgery, is costly. Unfortunately any individual who chooses either lipoplasty or surgery will have to meet the cost himself because his Insurer will look upon either as elective and cosmetic.
Hormone research over the last few years has enabled us to use these to treat some males.
When all is said and done and notwithstanding any other treatment, any individual with either condition will need to adopt a fresh approach to nutrition and lifestyle plus an exercise program.A number of natural methods to lose chest fat, based on these principles have become available recently. I have taken the time to research these and have taken the best to highlight them.
