While most patients who undergo breast augmentation are women, in fact breast implants are also commonly chosen by men in the course of male-to-female sex reassignment surgery. Many men undergo breast augmentation as a way to achieve their true gender roles, often long before they consider full gender reassignment surgery (which includes genital surgery).
Most men seeking breast implants do so because they feel that they should have been born a female. The process of changing one's gender is often a long road, involving both physical and psychological components. Men going through this often choose breast implants somewhere in the middle of this process. Others may seek breast implants because they want to look like a woman for aspirations such as being a drag queen, or may just like the idea of having breasts, although this is much less common than using breast implants as part of the gender reassignment process.
Breast implants used for male patients are identical to those used for female patients. Usually, men undergoing breast augmentation will need to choose larger implants than women attempting to achieve the same bust size, since they are beginning with less tissue in the chest area.
The actual procedure to place the implants is almost identical to that used for female breast augmentation. Most male patients have their implants placed underneath the chest muscle, which provides superior aesthetic results given male patients' lack of natural breast tissue. Because there is no glandular tissue in male chest tissue, many surgeons find male breast augmentation to be easier to perform.
After surgery, it can take some time for men to adjust to their new chest contours. While breast implants will not alter gender completely, this procedure can bring male patients a big step closer to their desired appearance.
Related Articles
Men and plastic surgery
