Top Surgery Chest Masculinizing
Chest Masculinization Overview
We know this surgery is extremely important. It takes incredible trust to allow a surgeon to perform this operation. We want you to know we are humbled by that trust and take it very seriously.
The first step in this complex process is understanding your options and creating a plan that meets your needs. We’ve created this overview to help you make important decisions and know what to expect.
What is chest masculinization surgery?
Chest masculinization surgery is a surgery to sculpt and contour the chest to give more masculine shape and contour while also adjusting size, shape and position of the nipple. There are three main goals to chest masculinizing surgery
- Remove chest tissue and sculpt the chest
- Remove excess skin if needed
- Remove, reposition, reshape nipple if desired
Each patient’s surgery and results are different.
What to consider
Before your first consultation, we encourage you to:
- Consider your goals and priorities of surgery.
- Write down your questions and bring them with you to your visit.
- Ask a support person to come with you. Ideally, this is the same person who will care for you after surgery.
Chest Masculinizing Options
There are many techniques that are available and the names may be different from office or office. We will cover the most common techniques for chest masculinizing surgery.
Double Incision With/Without Nipple Grafting
This is by far the most common technique for chest masculinizing surgery. This is a powerful surgery that allows to give a flat chest with good contour, remove excess skin, and reposition and resize the nipple if desired. This is typically the best option for patients that have small to large amounts of chest tissue with any tissue overhang to give the most cosmetic final result.
Ideal candidate: Someone at a stable weight with excess tissue of the chest.
Surgical approach: Incision is on the chest. Ideally the scar is placed along the lower portion of the pectoralis or chest muscle. Depending on the chest anatomy this scar may meet in the middle. Liposuction is used with most patients to give best contour especially in the lateral chest roll and to remove tissue in front of the arm pit.
Limitations: Some patient will have a significant chest roll that may go to the back. We are limited in treating this area but improvement is expected from this procedure.
Key hole/Peri Areolar/Minimal Scar
This is a less common technique. This is due to less ability to control excess skin and repositioning and resizing nipple especially with patients with larger nipples and moderate to significant chest tissue.
Ideal candidate: Someone at a stable weight with minimal excess chest tissue usually with minimal to no chest overhang or chest fold. Ideal patients with smaller sized nipples
Surgical approach: Incision is placed on the lateral side of the nipple or completely around with nipple in patients that are getting nipple size reduced. Tissue is removed through this small incision. Excess tissue is not removed.
Limitations: Since no skin is removed any excess skin is improved by the body contracting the skin. This can be different from patient to patient and can be hard to predict. Nipple position and size can only be minimally changed.
Your first consultation
Your first consultation is an opportunity for us to learn about your hopes and goals. You will be given a questionnaire to help us meet your needs and measure the results. Your surgeon will review various surgical options and explain the process.
Once we understand your goals, we will:
- Evaluate your anatomy.
- Pre operative pictures will be taken
- Assess your overall health to see which surgeries can meet your goals. You may be asked to lose weight or make lifestyle changes to prepare your body for surgery.
A fair amount of time is spent during the consultation with your surgeon, but you may also meet the other members of your care team.
Preparing for Surgery
Healing form Surgery
Chest masculinization is a surgery that will limit physical activity typically 4-6 weeks. A large part of its success depends on your preparedness. This means being in the best possible physical and mental health before the surgery.
Above all else, it is critical to have reasonable expectations about what is possible for your body and what your surgeon can realistically accomplish. We recommend you:
Talk with a mental health professional with an understanding of gender care to help navigate this challenging and exciting period of your life.
Connect with peers who have been through this surgery for support. Please keep in mind that each person’s surgical plan and experience is unique. Information shared on some forums may not be relevant to your surgery. Due to patient privacy laws, we never comment on another patient’s specific issues. We are happy to clarify anything related to your individual care.
Chest masculinization is a surgery that will limit physical activity typically 4-6 weeks. A large part of its success depends on your preparedness. This means being in the best possible physical and mental health before the surgery.
Above all else, it is critical to have reasonable expectations about what is possible for your body and what your surgeon can realistically accomplish. We recommend you:
- Talk with a mental health professional with an understanding of gender care to help navigate this challenging and exciting period of your life.
- Connect with peers who have been through this surgery for support. Please keep in mind that each person’s surgical plan and experience is unique. Information shared on some forums may not be relevant to your surgery. Due to patient privacy laws, we never comment on another patient’s specific issues. We are happy to clarify anything related to your individual care.
Maximizing Healing
We like to think about surgery like running a marathon. You will be stressing your body and will have to do significant healing. In the weeks to months before surgery maximizing your health both mental and physical will help you recover more quickly
• We recommend getting about 0.5 gram of protein per weight in lb a day to maximize healing Ex 150lb x 0.5=75g of protein per day
• We also recommend reducing sugar and processed foods
• We recommend keeping active before having surgery. Keeping up with or adding a workout plan will help your overall health and help heal more quickly. We understand that we all have different physical capabilities but even adding daily walking, home yoga, or simple homework outs with body weight can help.
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