The clinical term for the growth of breast tissue in men is known as Gynecomastia, from the Greek 'gyne' meaning woman and 'mastos' meaning breast. Without the ancient Greek jargon, most people know it as man boobs. Though there are a number of reasons why man boobs can form, the primary two are hormonal imbalances and excess fatty tissue, most common in obese and overweight men.
Puberty is one of the natural times when man boobs can develop because of natural hormone disruptions. Sometimes adolescent boys will notice small lumps under or near their nipples and buddy breasts appear, but this usually goes away with the passage of time. This is more likely to happen in overweight boys but even active and slim boys can experience it. Other than the social stigma that boys with man boobs may feel there are no known health risks for man boobs at adolescence. 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.
Gynecomastia may also come from taking certain medications, from excessive beer drinking and alcohol intake, from marijuana and methamphetamines as well as underlying illnesses like liver disease and even some cancers.
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. Anabolic steroid use is a major and increasing cause of gynecomastia. Steroids wreak such havoc on your hormones that they cause man boobs far quicker and more drastically than natural hormonal fluxes. 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.
It is really not that uncommon for steroid using men (especially young men) to find that what they wanted to give them big strong bodies actually gave them feminine breasts, oh dear. Generally the cause is from the steroids putting the testosterone and estrogen balance in the body all out of whack. 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 really what a guy using steroids would want to look like, but that's one of the many risks involved.
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. Body builders often use estrogen blockers, however there are not sufficient studies on the side effects to know for sure they may not just cause another kind of problem further down the track.
If you suffer from man boobs and haven't taken steroids, rest assured there are plenty of treatment available to naturally reduce man boobs and give you back the flat muscles that once reigned over your chest- given the right diet and lifestyle advice man boobs can be history. If you have steroid induce gynecomastia it may take a bit more time, however you should try every natural remedy prior to surgery, as it can be a costly as risky procedure that may or may not cure the problem.
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