Hi,
I had surgery a little more than a week ago, and am not on hormones. Now that the bandages are off and I've had a few days to see how things are healing, it seems to me like my chest is too flat, almost concave. I asked about this before the surgery, whether any fat or tissue would be between my muscle and skin. I was a bit worried it would be bony, since I'm generally a bit padded elsewhere, and the response I got was that all the mammary gland will be removed, and it depends on my body whether there will be any fat there.

Some pics are below - it's a little hard to see, but especially for my nipple on the right side of the picture, it becomes more concave when I flex my pecs. And then across my whole chest, it's very nearly as flat and firm as at my sternum.

I have two questions:
1. Has this happened for other folks, the flatness in general and the concavity at the nipples? Is it a result of the way the surgery was done? Or is it really dependent only on my body?

2. Is any of this because I'm so soon post-op? Is it possible to "fill in" over time?

Thanks for any insight!
Kai

I think after a while you will build up some fat there or, do some pecks stuff, just get a green light from your doc first

-Michael

Quote from: taxi on November 28, 2014, 07:51:46 PM
Hi,
I had surgery a little more than a week ago, and am not on hormones. Now that the bandages are off and I've had a few days to see how things are healing, it seems to me like my chest is too flat, almost concave. I asked about this before the surgery, whether any fat or tissue would be between my muscle and skin. I was a bit worried it would be bony, since I'm generally a bit padded elsewhere, and the response I got was that all the mammary gland will be removed, and it depends on my body whether there will be any fat there.

Some pics are below - it's a little hard to see, but especially for my nipple on the right side of the picture, it becomes more concave when I flex my pecs. And then across my whole chest, it's very nearly as flat and firm as at my sternum.

I have two questions:
1. Has this happened for other folks, the flatness in general and the concavity at the nipples? Is it a result of the way the surgery was done? Or is it really dependent only on my body?

2. Is any of this because I'm so soon post-op? Is it possible to "fill in" over time?

Thanks for any insight!
Kai

Kai -

Welcome to the site.  I think it is too soon to tell ANYTHING about how your chest will look in the future. 

You look really good for only one week out!  I am really not seeing anything concerning or alarming at all.  Who was your surgeon?

There is also a "sticky" at the top of the Top Surgery section that you may want to check out.  "Top Surgery Recovery Updates".  There are a lot of guys with a lot of experiences on that thread who might be of use to you as your recover.

I agree, at this stage they look more like pepperoni than actual areolas.
I think it looks like a good job. Patience young grasshopper.

--Jay

At almost 11 months, recently my chest has poofed a bit. Not sure if it is muscle or fat but it is not how it was a few months ago. I think it's too early for you to worry about it, just be glad it isn't sticking out any more. I'm also not on T.

Thanks for the encouragement and insight. I went to Dr. McGinn in Pennsylvania. I'll also check in on the other thread if anyone else has had a similar start and how it turned out for them.

Kai

I haven't seen too many results by Dr McGinn. But that doesn't mean too much. Her methods are likely similar to other surgeons, because there are only so many out there. It doesn't mean all surgeons are the same, just that you have a basic DI there. And it is just going to take time to heal. Cutting off the nipples, resizing, and stapling them back on (which is essentially what they do) is not something that heals in a couple weeks. I think I saw changes up to maybe 6-8 *months* not a few weeks. Patience young grasshopper. LOL

BTW, I was flat, which I think is more of how developed (or not) my pecs were. I worked out with small free weights and so on, which did help that, but I believe I was more flat than average afterwords. I could post an earlier and later shot, and you could see this. I am MUCH older than you are.


--Jay

Quote from: taxi on November 29, 2014, 05:45:32 AM
Thanks for the encouragement and insight. I went to Dr. McGinn in Pennsylvania. I'll also check in on the other thread if anyone else has had a similar start and how it turned out for them.

Kai

In re-looking at the McGinn pictures I saw before, I think I see a similar pattern. Folks with less muscle have more of an indentation right above the incision. I didn't see any pictures immediately post-op and then months later post-op to get a comparison but of course what'll happen is what'll happen. I guess I would have expected puffiness and swelling so soon after, and I have a follow up Monday in which I can ask, but I want to set my expectations, or drop them as the case may be.

I'd love to say I'll just double down on the workouts and gain more muscle, but with two kids and a third on the way that's not very likely 

Kai

Hi there, I am really glad to see a topic about chest being concave because I had a similar question regarding this before. I like your results by the way.  I was also wondering about Dr McGinn myself.
  When you say the mammary gland entirely being removed, do you mean the entire breast tissue? 

You just need to start lifting. Once you get into a good routine and start to strengthen your pecs they won't look so flat.
Good luck!

If it does not get the shape you desire, perhaps what I use for my breast growth which is slow and gentle vacuum of chest would work.  I get great results and looking at how good you look now, if all does not work out as you wish, it would be an option after all tissue is healed. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Taxi, I totally WISHED I had your results...

So, 4 months out and it's still pretty much the same - I feel like it's totally flat and because of some pudge above it, concave at some angles/arm positions. I have noticed that the pudge right next to my armpits feels like it sticks out enough to look weird, but I've also gained some sympathy weight for baby #3 due in a few weeks Weightlifting might help, but it's not a high priority given my other commitments right now. So, concave nipples it is for a bit longer...

makipu: Thanks! I really don't dislike my results, but it's easy to be preoccupied with things you didn't expect, so that's probably where this comes from for me. I can't send a private msg, maybe because I haven't logged in a while, but to answer your question, the doc said all of the 'breast tissue' was removed, but not in a way that would preclude the risk of breast cancer (I assume that to mean that there are nerves, fascia, some other structures that are part of the breast but are deeper/wider than the operated-on area). The surgery doesn't touch muscle, which is why it's called a subcutaneous mastectomy. Radical mastectomies (what folks with breast cancer need) take muscle and are in-patient surgeries with awful recoveries. This is a minor surgery compared with that. So sounds like your experience was less than ideal?

Thank you for clarifying that. What you're saying sounds similar to what I was told which is "All the tissue that's visible to my eyes will be removed" so not all I suppose. My results are NOT flat like how I wanted.  It looks like I have pecs (which is what your ideal is?I wish we could switch ) 
I would have went to McGinn if she wasn't so booked (her consultations wasn't until April!)

taxi -
makipu's ideal chest is that of a prepubescent child.  This is pretty much his dream chest.

had not heard of Dr. McGinn so i looked her up ....damn shes smoking hot

Quote from: makipu on March 12, 2015, 04:02:14 PM
Thank you for clarifying that. What you're saying sounds similar to what I was told which is "All the tissue that's visible to my eyes will be removed" so not all I suppose. My results are NOT flat like how I wanted.  It looks like I have pecs (which is what your ideal is?I wish we could switch ) 
I would have went to McGinn if she wasn't so booked (her consultations wasn't until April!)

Hey, buddy, who was your surgeon?  I don't think I ever asked.  You aren't comfortable putting up pictures?

Quote from: taxi on November 28, 2014, 07:51:46 PM

Hey, taxi, I wanted to ask if you would consider posting the pictures of your chest and share some of your recovery experience in this thread:  https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,156574.0.html 

This is a sticky thread in the Top Surgery section.  The more pictures and information we share, the better!  I don't believe there is anyone in that thread that went to McGinn, so your pictures and story would be appreciated.

I had it with Dr Rumer since I needed them gone ASAP. You're right, no pictures from me . Maybe if I modified it?  That was the reason I didn't post in the Recovery thread for my additional questions.