Male Breast Reduction Recovery

Male breast reduction provides effective, long-lasting treatment for gynecomastia. Like any cosmetic procedure, great results come from choosing an experienced, skilled plastic surgeon and doing your part during recovery to ensure optimal healing. Here’s what you need to know.

Immediately after surgery

Our surgeons use general anesthesia to perform male breast reduction for your safety and comfort. You’ll be tired and need someone with you the first 24 hours as the effects wear off. Rest mostly, but get up frequently to walk around—doing so promotes healthy circulation.

All patients go home wearing a compression vest, which should be kept on for 4 weeks. For more extensive cases, your surgeon may place drains at incision sites to collect fluid; these are removed after one week.

Pain is minimal; intense soreness is more common. We’ll prescribe pain medications to keep you comfortable.

How soon can I return to work after male breast reduction?

This depends on your job and how extensive your procedure was.

• For a desk job, you may be able to return in less than 1 week.
• Physically demanding work should be postponed for 2 to 3 weeks.
• Wear your compression garment under your clothes and don’t go back to work yet if you’re taking pain meds.

When can I get back to the gym after gynecomastia treatment?

Most patients are cleared to ease back into their workout routines after 2 to 3 weeks. Enjoy your time off, and don’t push it. Your safety and results are worth the wait. The first few weeks you are back at the gym, wear your compression vest for support.

Will people notice my scars when I take my shirt off?

After they’ve faded, probably not. Liposuction-only male breast reductions require only one or two short incisions on each side. For more extensive procedures, our doctors try to limit incisions so that scarring occurs around the natural edge of the areola—ideal for camouflage. Although scars will be darker or brighter red at first, depending on your skin tone, they will fade significantly over 6 to 12 months following surgery. Just remember to wear sunscreen to protect this sensitive skin from burning, and thus darkening.