Can Fat Freeze Cure Enlarged Male Chest?

by Dr. Ivan Puah

Nothing can fix gynecomastia except for gynecomastia surgery?

Not exactly. Gynecomastia can be treated or resolved spontaneously if the underlying causes can be treated or reversed in a relatively short period. In most cases, gynecomastia is unlikely to completely resolve if the condition persists for more than 1 year. After that, surgery is the treatment of choice.

You are probably suffering from pseudogynecomastia. What is pseudogynecomastia?

"Man-Boobs" or male breast enlargement can be due to breast tissue hypertrophy (gynecomastia), fat tissue hypertrophy (pseudogynecomastia) or a mixture of both. Most of my patients (75%) suffer from a mixture of both, 20% of them had only gynecomastia, and less than 5% had pure fat hypertrophy or pseudogynecomastia. It is relatively uncommon for patients to only have pseudogynecomastia when they present with symptoms of breast enlargement.

Fat Freezing For Men's Breast Tissue. How Does fat freezing Target Fat in Men's Breasts?

Fat reduction treatment such as fat freezing uses controlled cooling mechanism to 'freeze' targeted fat tissues. This will lead to damages to the fat tissues. The 'injured' or damaged fat tissues will then be removed from your body. 

Fat freezing can be effective for pseudogynecomastia in some male patients. How does it work?

For those who are not ready for surgical treatment, fat freezing is probably the next best option for pseudogynecomastia. However, you will need to have a realistic expectation as Fat Freezing may reduce only up to 20-25% of existing fat tissues. Breast liposuction will have to be considered next for patients who do not respond to the treatment.

You will need to be evaluated first to know if you are a good candidate for treatment. Who makes a good candidate for gynecomastia or pseudogynecomastia?

As mentioned earlier, 90-95% of the patients with 'man-boobs' that I see have some degrees of breast tissue enlargement, with and without associated fat tissues. These patients will not respond well to fat freezing or fat reduction alone. Just reducing the fat tissue alone may lead to unsightly results such as puffy nipples, asymmetry, etc.

It is crucial to have the correct diagnosis before subjecting patients with male breast enlargement for Fat Freezing treatment. Only a small percentage of the patients will truly benefit from it.

What happens during the fat freezing procedure?

It will be performed with the patient lying comfortably on a bed. A specialised membrane will be applied on the chest to protect the skin from cold before applying suction paddles to the treatment areas. Then, using controlled cooling, fat tissues will be cooled till they crystalise. The whole treatment will take approximately an hour.