Dr. Teitelbaum’s Approach
As a male who himself has been frustrated with shirts being “too clingy” to his own chest, Dr. Teitelbaum will be able to relate to what you tell him about how gynecomastia is bothersome to you. At your first visit, he will take a thorough history, examine you, and discuss your options with you. He sees many patients with gynecomastia, yet each man’s situation is so different that he individualizes care to each of his patients.
There are always options, and Dr. Teitelbaum will discuss yours together with you. Whether you need liposuction alone, excision alone, or a combination of both, he will be able to help you decide which is most suitable for you. With a large number of photos of other patients who have had this procedure done by him at his office, you will have an opportunity to get an impression of the kind of result you might be able to expect from the various approaches.
You will also have a choice about anesthesia. Most men prefer being put into a light sleep. That assures that there will not be any discomfort during the procedure, and that as a surgeon, Dr. Teitelbaum will not be limited in what he needs to do to create the best shape by your discomfort.. The male chest is sensitive, and except for an excision of a small localized deposit of gynecomastia, there is usually some notable discomfort if the procedure is done under local anesthetic. But there are some men who just don’t want to go to sleep, don’t want to spend the money on an anesthesiologist, or do not mind having some discomfort. Another option is called “MAC anesthesia,” which means that an anesthesiologist is there to put an IV in you and give you pain medicine, but you never go fully asleep. There is no one right answer for everyone, and Dr. Teitelbaum will discuss what will be best for you.
Dr. Teitelbaum has an array of liposuction options and will discuss which one he thinks is most suitable for you. He can do standard liposuction, tumescent liposuction, power liposuction, and ultrasonic liposuction. The equipment for all of these is in his operating room. Being readily available, he can use whichever methods will work the best for each patient.
Plastic surgery is medicine, but excellent aesthetic judgment and sensibility are necessary to achieve a beautiful result. Gynecomastia is not usually just a matter of removing a piece of tissue; it is about sculpting a nicely shaped chest and contouring it into the surrounding areas so that it looks handsome, smooth, and masculine. Sometimes it is necessary to do some contouring out to the sides under the arm; at other times the overall proportion of the abdomen needs to be taken into account, lest the chest itself look concave relative to the abdomen. Dr. Teitelbaum has a great eye for deciding what will look good on you, and he is very good at explaining things in common language so that you and he can discuss your surgical plan.
Dr. Teitelbaum is also certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery, the only board recognized to credential plastic surgeons. He also was certified by the American Board of Surgery, so his education and credentials are impeccable.
You will find that Dr. Teitelbaum will be very honest, direct, and realistic with you. The biggest determinant of your result is not what your surgeon does: it is how you look now. That means the condition of your skin, the distribution and thickness of fat, the amount of firm gynecomastia tissue, and the shape of your pectoralis muscle. Dr. Teitelbaum is very good at assessing what needs to be done and what kind of a result a patient can expect. More importantly, however, he is very good at communicating that, which will give you a realistic expectation of the outcome you might achieve, so that you can decide if chest reduction surgery is right for you.
