Male breast tissue or gynecomastia causes an embarrassing prominence to the chest of many men. It often limits the activities that men do with their shirts off such as swimming and the beach. In fact, often men wear two shirts daily to help cover the prominence.
The causes can be from excessive breast tissue, fatty tissue, or both. During adolescence many men go through a period where breast tissue is noticeable but it usually involutes. If not, a mass beneath the areola can be felt. The development of fatty tissue to the chest usually occurs with aging and weight gain just like “love handles”.
(Did You Know? Good Morning America did a special on gynecomastia on 7/28/11. While I don’t completely agree with all that was said and done, you can view the segment at abcnews.go.com.)
The treatment is based on the cause. Surgical removal of breast tissue is helpful. Liposuction removes the extra fatty tissue to improve the contour. Again, both treatments simultaneously may be necessary. Interestingly, exercising the chest muscle pushes out the deformity making it more noticeable.