What Are Man Boobs and How to Deal With Them

Definition
Man boobs is a disorder whose medical term is gynecomastia. Gynecomastia is a Greek-derived word that means "Woman alike breasts". The men affected by gynecomastia, mostly due to hormone imbalance or overweight, grow their breasts like women do.

Known Types of gynecomastia
There are three types of gynecomastia. True gynecomastia is due to hormonal imbalance. When in men the production of estrogen is increased and testosterone is lowered, breasts grow. Pseudogynecomastia (false gynecomastia) is due to overweight. Breasts are made of fat and not glandular tissue like in true gynecomastia. Mixed gynecomastia is a mix of both true and false gynecomastia.

Pubertal Man Boobs
Puberty is one of the most common age to develop gybecomastia. During puberty boys and girls go through heavy hormonal changes. Boys produce testosterone, while girls produce estrogen. Both hormones give the two genders their characteristics, such as voice tone, presence of hair and so on. During these changes is common to see boys that produce more estrogen. It is something common and not to worry about but with the side effect of enlarged breasts. The bad news is at this point there's nothing you can do to get rid of man boobs; from 12 to 18 years of age there's no remedy to it, the best you can do is hide your chest under loose t-shirts or wearing a compression garment. The good news is at 18 at the latest hormones will balance again and gynecomastia will disappear by itself.

Adult Gynecomastia
Gynecomastia after puberty is hardly caused by hormones issue. There are two common causes: overweight (which leads to pseudogynecomastia) and intake of certain drugs, which leads to true gynecomastia. If you're affected by fatty man boobs (opposed to glandular man boobs) the best you can do is go on diet and exercise a lot. Aerobic work out is the best way to reduce your breast. Jogging, walking, skiing, stepping are all kind of aerobic work out you can do without problems. Exercise, together with a healthy and balanced diet will surely improve the look of your breasts.