Mayo Clinic Health Manager
Get free personalized health guidance for you and your family.
Get Started
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Coping and support
By Mayo Clinic staffFor a man, enlarged breasts can be stressful and embarrassing. Gynecomastia can be difficult to hide and a challenge to romantic relationships. During puberty, gynecomastia can make boys a target for teasing from peers. It can make activities like swimming or changing for gym class traumatic.
Whatever your age, you may feel like your body has betrayed you and you may feel unhappy with yourself. These feelings are normal, but there are a few things you can do to help you cope:
- Get counseling. Talk therapy can help you avoid anxiety and depression caused by gynecomastia. It can also help you communicate with your partner or family members so that they understand what you're going through.
- Reach out to your family and friends. You may feel embarrassed to talk about gynecomastia with the people you care about. But explaining your situation and asking for help will likely strengthen your relationships and reduce stress.
- Connect with others who have gynecomastia. Talking with men who have had a similar experience can help you cope. Web sites such as Gynecomastia.org provide a forum for connecting with others who have the condition.
- Braunstein GD. Epidemiology and pathogenesis of gynecomastia. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Sept. 17, 2008.
- Braunstein GD. Causes and evaluation of gynecomastia. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Sept. 17, 2008.
- Braunstein GD. Management of gynecomastia. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Sept. 17, 2008.
- Braunstein GD. Gynecomastia. New England Journal of Medicine. 2007;357(12):1229-1237.
- Testicular Disorders. In: Kronenberg HM, et al. Williams Textbook of Endocrinology. 11th ed. St. Louis, Mo. Saunders Elsevier; 2008. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/111383897-2/0/1555/0.html. Accessed Nov. 24, 2008.
- Fitzgerald PA. Gynecomastia. In: McPhee SJ et al. CURRENT Medical Diagnosis & Treatment. 48th ed. San Francisco, Calif.: The McGraw-Hill Companies; 2009. http://www.accessmedicine.com/resourceTOC.aspx?resourceID=1. Accessed Nov. 24, 2008.
- Shalender B. Disorders of the Testes and Male Reproductive System. In: Fauci AS, et al. Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine. 17th ed. The Mc-Graw Hill Companies; 2008. http://www.accessmedicine.com/content.aspx?aID=2900449. Accessed Nov. 24, 2008.
