In Greek ‘Gyne means woman and ‘mastos’ means breast, and so the technical term for extra breast tissue on the chest in males is known as gyencosmastia. Leaving ancient Greece for a moment, the condition is more commonly referred to as man boobs. Man boobs can result from different issues in the body but mostly from either an excess of fat, such as in obese men or from a hormonal imbalance.
Puberty is one of the natural times when man boobs can develop because of natural hormone disruptions. Although man boobs in adolescent males usually disappear after a while, it is not at all uncommon for them to sprout small breasts of have lumps under their nipple for a couple of years. Overweight boys are more susceptible but even active fit youngsters can experience breast development. No health risks are associated with this adolescent man boob growth, other than the social and psychological pain and stigmatisation that often goes with man boobs. Boys that have man boobs will often isolate themselves from their peer group and avoid social situations that involve taking off their shirt like sports of beach activities.
Man boobs can also be the result of a side effect from prescription medications, or from drug and alcohol abuse (marijuana, methamphetamines and beer are big ones) as well as diseases that can have man boobs as symptoms like certain cancers and liver disease.
One source of man boobs has been causing somewhat of an epidemic and creates man boobs that are far more persistent and permanent, sometime leaving surgery as the only option to remove the male breasts. Of course it is anabolic steroid abuse, which is a huge cause of man boobs and is leading to increasing cases of the condition. Because steroids have such a profound effect on the hormones in your body, they have a far more drastic and fast development of man boobs than natural hormonal problems. Man boobs that are resultant of steroid use are also more stubborn and if left untreated may actually develop into permanent tissue which can only really be removed by risky (not to mention hard on the hip pocket) male mamoplasty, which is not a great option for any man.
Developing breasts from steroid use is actually quite common. Breast will develop because of the way that steroids disrupt the balance of estrogen and testosterone in the body. Steroids stop the body’s natural testosterone production and if a user doesn’t put testosterone back into the body after a cycle of steroids then estrogen will be rampant in the body and feminine hips and breasts will develop. Not exactly the look steroids users would be going for, but a result of steroids nonetheless.
After taking steroids it can take a while for the body’s natural testosterone production to begin again and even when it does and hormones go back to normal the breast that have formed often remain. Man boobs from steroids are famous for being harder to get rid of than man boobs from other causes.
The ideal solution would of course be to not use steroids at all, and indeed if the other risk like shrunken testicles are taken into consideration, they should be avoided like the plague. Those who are determined to use steroids can try and stop breast development by taking estrogen blockers. The effects of estrogen blockers are not fully known, so despite the fact they are taken by many bodybuilders, they may have hidden effects potentially more unsettling than man boobs.
There are plenty of ways to try and reduce man boobs, and if you have man boobs and have never used steroids then you are just months away from having a manly toned chest once more, because male breast are totally treatable given the right natural remedies and lifestyle and diet changes. If your man boobs are steroid induced still don’t rush into surgery that may not even cure the problem – it may take a bit more time but natural remedies can still cure your man boobs.
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