Opinions on disclosure?

[Ayden]

Here's a thing about a reduction. A lady my mama knows actually got one and about three years later, her breasts actually became larger than they were before the reduction. I'm not sure how likely this is, but I'm guessing if one person can get an increase, it can happen.

Reaver

I've seen this happen once. But, I've known about 10 women who got reductions and only one had any increased growth.

I'd say if it's the best you can do to get your chest smaller, it can't hurt to consider it. I know much it sucks to have them, and I'm small by comparison to a lot of guys.

I wouldn't disclose though. It's one of those tricky situations where I usually am pro disclosure to medical professionals, but I can see more cons to disclosure than pros in this case. What I can tell you is that my aunt was pretty too heavy and had a reduction. She asked the doctor to take as much as possible off. Her reasoning was that she didnt want sagging and she wanted to live as a small chested woman. The doctor took her from E cup to a small-medium B. it's pretty easy to push B cups down flat in my experience, since I was a medium/large B. have you met your surgeon? Are you in a fairly progressive area?

[Aewin]

I've seen this happen once. But, I've known about 10 women who got reductions and only one had any increased growth.

I'd say if it's the best you can do to get your chest smaller, it can't hurt to consider it. I know much it sucks to have them, and I'm small by comparison to a lot of guys.

I wouldn't disclose though. It's one of those tricky situations where I usually am pro disclosure to medical professionals, but I can see more cons to disclosure than pros in this case. What I can tell you is that my aunt was pretty too heavy and had a reduction. She asked the doctor to take as much as possible off. Her reasoning was that she didnt want sagging and she wanted to live as a small chested woman. The doctor took her from E cup to a small-medium B. it's pretty easy to push B cups down flat in my experience, since I was a medium/large B. have you met your surgeon? Are you in a fairly progressive area?

I haven't met my surgeon. I know which one I'll be referred to, but it'll be about 2 months before our initial consult. I'm gathering info ahead of time, heh. I can't find any info on whether he's worked with the transgender community, but I'm in Arkansas, which is not exactly a progressive area, so I'm going to hazard a guess of no since he's not on any of the resource lists I've found for Arkansas transfolk. And assuming he's able to take me down from an I-cup to a C- or D- as was mentioned by someone earlier in the thread, I highly doubt I'd gain that much back at any point, so either way I'm probably still better off than where I started from.

And I definitely understand where you're coming from on the disclosure. I'd prefer to be able to disclose, but hopefully with the tips and advice in this thread I can convince the surgeon to go as small as possible without risking a loss of insurance coverage. And if I come up with the money for top surgery down the line, I can get the more traditional masculine treatment. Thanks for the advice.

[aleon515]

I was a C before top surgery. I did need to bind but it's not super big that you can't deal with them. So I'd go small as possible. I don't think he'd be able to get you down to nothing anyway. So telling him to get you as small as possible (for your active lifestyle etc) is a good idea. I think since you are 5' an A cup even is proportional.

--Jay

[Aewin]

I realize this is an old topic, but I wanted to update it with what wound up happening, in case any future guys want a case to reference.

I did not disclose my trans identity to my surgeon, but I did emphasize that he should get my breasts as small as he could, with small areolas. I had my consult July 31st and my surgery October 3rd. I was a 42I and he could only get me down to a 42D even after removing 7 pounds of tissue, because my breast tissue was super dense. It's been almost two months, and I've healed very well aside from two minor open wounds that were caused by steristrip irritation (and they are healing with daily application of antibiotic cream). From the talks I've had with trans guys, most of the recovery process seems very similar to that of top surgery, so top surgery recovery advice has been pretty applicable.

I was able to comfortably bind about a month out from surgery, and it's definitely easier to do so. I'm fairly overweight, so it's my hope that as I lose some weight and get on T, and the remaining breast tissue breaks down a bit from the pressure of the binder, it should get even easier to hide them. I'm definitely a lot more comfortable in my skin even with just a reduction, so I'd say it was worth it since my insurance covered most of it. If your insurance won't cover a reduction, I'd probably advise that you just save up for full top surgery.

Hope it helps someone out!

[Bimmer Guy]

I realize this is an old topic, but I wanted to update it with what wound up happening, in case any future guys want a case to reference.

I did not disclose my trans identity to my surgeon, but I did emphasize that he should get my breasts as small as he could, with small areolas. I had my consult July 31st and my surgery October 3rd. I was a 42I and he could only get me down to a 42D even after removing 7 pounds of tissue, because my breast tissue was super dense. It's been almost two months, and I've healed very well aside from two minor open wounds that were caused by steristrip irritation (and they are healing with daily application of antibiotic cream). From the talks I've had with trans guys, most of the recovery process seems very similar to that of top surgery, so top surgery recovery advice has been pretty applicable.

I was able to comfortably bind about a month out from surgery, and it's definitely easier to do so. I'm fairly overweight, so it's my hope that as I lose some weight and get on T, and the remaining breast tissue breaks down a bit from the pressure of the binder, it should get even easier to hide them. I'm definitely a lot more comfortable in my skin even with just a reduction, so I'd say it was worth it since my insurance covered most of it. If your insurance won't cover a reduction, I'd probably advise that you just save up for full top surgery.

Hope it helps someone out!

Aewin, glad to hear things went well.  Yes, breast reduction can only get someone so small, based on what size they start at.  I am curious to know which breast reduction method they used? 

[Aewin]

Aewin, glad to hear things went well.  Yes, breast reduction can only get someone so small, based on what size they start at.  I am curious to know which breast reduction method they used?

He used the inverted-T method, and there was no nipple graft, though he did reduce the size of the areolas quite a bit. I'm actually more sensitive after surgery than I was before. I was hoping he could go smaller than a D, but apparently I have super-dense tissue, so there wasn't much to be done about that. Hopefully that won't be an issue when I'm eventually able to get top surgery. Thanks for the well-wishes.

[Bimmer Guy]

He used the inverted-T method, and there was no nipple graft, though he did reduce the size of the areolas quite a bit. I'm actually more sensitive after surgery than I was before. I was hoping he could go smaller than a D, but apparently I have super-dense tissue, so there wasn't much to be done about that. Hopefully that won't be an issue when I'm eventually able to get top surgery. Thanks for the well-wishes.

Your top surgeon may be able to use those same incision lines when you get top surgery, which is good.  There are some guys who get the T-anchor for their top surgery.  When you get ready for top surgery, look for a surgeon who does this procedure. 

[Aewin]

Your top surgeon may be able to use those same incision lines when you get top surgery, which is good.  There are some guys who get the T-anchor for their top surgery.  When you get ready for top surgery, look for a surgeon who does this procedure.

Good to know! I knew inverted-T was a possible method for top surgery, but I didn't know whether that would end up making it more or less difficult to work with my reduction results, in the end. Thanks for the tip.

[Arch]

A surgeon in Chicago used to do the anchor. I can never remember his name.

I'm glad you at least got through a reduction and were able to get most of the cost covered.

[aleon515]

Dr Steinwald. AFAIC, he looks like he has the nicest results with it, that I've seen anyway.

--Jay

A surgeon in Chicago used to do the anchor. I can never remember his name.

I'm glad you at least got through a reduction and were able to get most of the cost covered.

[Arch]

I was thinking it was something-stein, so I wasn't far off the mark. I think I mix him up with Brownstein.