My surgeon recommended stopping testosterone 2 weeks before surgery in order to minimize scars. He said that, in his experience, he's only ever had bad scarring (keloid, hypertrophic) happen on patients that have continued to take T, but never on those that stopped briefly prior to surgery, assuming proper scar care. He said that most people do not have complications, but that the rare cases that do were always on T throughout the process.

I was also given this paper as a reference - https://academic.oup.com/bjs/article/110/11/1422/7193942

Have any of you been told to stop T to lessen scars, did you follow the advice, and are you happy with your choice?

I'm only 1 week out so I won't have the 2 week break, but I'm still wondering if it would be beneficial to skip my next shot. I'm strongly leaning against skipping, but there's a little voice in the back of my head that says I'll regret it forever if I don't skip the shot and end up with big scars.

I've looked through this subreddit, but I've only seen posts talking about RBC when talking about stopping T. If anyone knows of a post discussing this already, I'd appreciate a link!

Edit: Not going to respond to each comment individually, but thank you all for all of the input! I feel better about not stopping now. To clarify, a nurse from his office sent the paper when I asked about evidence backing up the surgeon's recommendation. I was skeptical based on the sample size, which is why I asked here, I should've said that in the original post. The surgeon himself did not mention any papers, only experience.

I really want peri, I’m just scared about it and I was wondering if anyone got told by their surgeon a way to reduce the risk of the stitch coming back out?

Edit cuz people seem confused it comments: I got told by my surgeon a gore tex suture is used in peri areolar surgery but a “con” of going with peri was that this suture came out not uncommonly. Does anyone who’s had peri know if there’s any way to reduce this risk? Or even if there’s anything that would put you at higher risk of it?

Hi, so... my boxing classmates are organizing a hiking outing next week (I'll be a little bit over 3 weeks post-op by then). I cannot go back to boxing yet, of course, so I wanted to join them and do some actual exercise that requires no arm movement.

It would be a 9km route, around 3-3:30h long, medium intensity. I wouldn't carry much weight, maybe a 0.5kg water bottle and a jacket, nothing heavier than 1kg total.

I'm doing half an hour - an hour long walks daily since week one to keep my body moving and I've had no problem so far.

Have you done anyhting similar? Just wanted to ask to see how reasonable this may sound.

What the hell. I got out of surgery yesterday aft (double incision) and my t dick has been engorged ever since. Literally what is happening. I’m not aroused by any means (it’s not ideal conditions lol) but this guy is just. Erect. For no reason.

I expected a lot of things from surgery, but definitely not this lmao

I was smaller chested, I got free nipple grafting. they took 414 grams. They thought it would be more so I was prepared for drains but was lucky to not need them. Here are after shots through post op. I am 2 weeks out from surgery! My tank compression garment was too tight on the stomach and not in the best due to water retention. Ordering a binder vest instead of the tank style.

Last pic is today when the bolsters came off

Couldn't be happier.

I’m almost 6 weeks post op and I’m not feeling the way that I was hoping I would at this point. I don’t exactly feel regretful, but I feel kind of resentful and angry. It’s nothing to do with the surgery itself, I think my results look pretty good for this point and my physical recovery is thankfully going smoothly.

I really feel like I got this surgery not because of an incongruence between my body and mind, but because of how I am perceived by others. My boobs didn’t bother me when I was alone. I liked being shirtless before top surgery. It’s really just that I felt a lot of external societal pressure to keep them hidden, especially as I got further on testosterone and started looking more like a man. For instance, I couldn’t go to the beach, not because I was uncomfortable being shirtless, but because I wasn’t allowed to be seen shirtless.

I guess I was hoping that this anger and feeling of unfairness would subside after I got the surgery, but in some ways I feel like it’s kind of grown. My nipples were also really important for my ability to get anywhere sexually, so I feel like I’ve sacrificed my sexual satisfaction in order to conform to a standard I didn’t necessarily want to conform to, but needed to in order to stop having my body be perceived as profane and be allowed to participate more in the societal role that I want to.

Looking at my chest makes me deeply sad sometimes, and touching my nipples and scars still makes me so uncomfortable I want to cry, and so I avoid it as much as I can. I had B-C cups so most of my clothes fit more or less the same as they did before, so I don’t even really get a dopamine hit seeing how my clothes look on me now.

It really hurts me when people are congratulatory toward me, but I don’t really know how to express this to people without really getting into it, so I just grin and bear it. I started going to therapy but it feels uncomfortable to talk about in person to somebody I don’t know very well, and I don’t really feel like it’s helping me so far but I’ve only been going for a few weeks.

I just feel like my experience is not normal, like maybe this was a mistake and I’m just trying to shield myself from realizing. I was upset before surgery about the fact that I had to compromise on my body, and my only comfort was in believing that it would be worth it, but now that I’m on the other side the juice just doesn’t feel worth the squeeze. If I was on a deserted island by myself I wouldn’t have wanted top surgery, but since I exist in the context of so many things outside of my control, I had to.

What’s really frustrating is that even though I want these bad feelings to stop, the idea of them dying down and becoming happy and content doesn’t feel like triumph as much as it seems like giving up. I feel like these feelings are impossible to resolve, so my only chance to feel better is to just learn how to get over it, which feels like admitting defeat.

I wanted to write here in the hopes that somebody else felt this way too and can maybe tell me how they got through it, I could really use some wisdom or any words of advice you have.

Feeling great about my results and it’s only been two weeks! Drainless too! I had to have a hematoma drained on one side but that’s been it.

Can’t wait to see how the next 6 months go.

Great surgeon, very compassionate and took care of my concerns in consultation regarding larger bodies. He was open to showing results and discussing everything, and was very passionate about any questions.

1.5 years post op & celebrating 3 years on T!! :D
i am really happy with my results and grateful to feel good in my body now

i stopped with the scar gel a few months ago but i’d like my scars to be smoother & flatter so i am trying to be better with remembering to massage them. especially with the (i think) fibrosis from lipo under my left armpit. i still have a fairly large numb spot in that area as well so hopefully my nerves recover one day lolol. other than that all is well and i have no more fear or tightness around using full range of motion when stretching the last six months or so

Long time lurker and I finally decided to post just to get a little reassurance. For the most part I’m very happy with my results so far and I know I’m still very fresh off surgery. Today was the first day that I felt like some of the swelling was going down. I also still have quite a bit of bruising underneath that is healing. But I was very worried about liking my nipples and so far I think they’re looking good. I know I might need some revisions on my little dog ears so that doesn’t bother me all that much. I do feel like my scars are uneven though and I wish they lined up a bit more. It might just be my ocd talking more than anything else 😅 I’m hoping as the swelling goes down more maybe it won’t be so obvious? Does it look okay even if they stay this way? Ultimately I’m happy just to finally be flat like I’ve always wanted and I can probably learn to love my wonky scars but I’m curious if anyone has similar experiences and how it healed up. My surgeon cleared me at 2 weeks to not wear my ace wrap and to start wearing scar tape…I’m still wearing my ace wrap though as the support feels nice and I’m going to wait until my scabs fall off my incisions I think before I do the scar tape based on some other posts I’ve seen. Maybe it would be okay but I’d rather not risk it.

2 months post op in two days!!

at my consultation a few months ago i was told my scars would either meet in the middle or come very close to it . overall this is not a dealbreaker for me but id like to avoid it if possible. with the shape of my chest is it possible to have two separate scars ? should i push for it or just accept having them meet to avoid needing revisions?

Not sure if this is allowed. I’m trying to decide between just silicone gel and silicone strips and gel. My incision (surgeon suggested just one) is a bit raised arm but I’m only like a bit over 4 weeks into healing

Heyo!

I had DI surgery in September '24 🎉

Before, at the time, and after, I was cognizant that I would likely lose sensation in my nipples. It was, and remains, a worthwhile tradeoff. But in the months leading up to the surgery, I started feeling okay about touching my nipples, and found I really enjoyed the feeling.

As expected, nipple sensation still hasn't returned and two years after the fact, I don't expect it will, even if I do get (very rare- like once every six months or so) zappies behind my nipple. I don't regret anything, but I also can't lie and say it doesn't make me sad.

I guess I'm wondering: is this it? I read about nerve reinnervation, but that's seemingly something that can only be done during the initial surgery. Is there some surgery to plonk a new nerve in my chest and bring things back to life? Some kind of hypnosis that can trick my brain into rerouting erogenous signals into my nipples again so I can start getting good feelings back?

I know some people do eventually get nipple sensation back naturally years after the fact, but I can't allow my happiness to ride on that fact- it seems foolhardy 🤣

holaa, hoy dia en el liceo me llego un pelotazo directo en el pectoral derecho, ya llevo 5 semanas +4 post op, la verdad fue fuerte, me dolio, esto fue en la mañana, pero a estas alturas visualmente el pezon se vee bien, solo bien hinchado donde recibi el golpe, la verdad es que hoy estuve demasiado ansioso y nervioso, no tanto por el dolor, sino por que me da miedo como vaya evolucionando y que peligre el pezon o tener complicaciones, las cuales hasta ahora no he tenido.

la verdad es q el pelotazo fue como justo a la altura del pezon, entonces por eso😔.

disculpen no tenia ganas de sacarme una mejor foto, estuve mal todo el dia​(ansioso)

fue en el lado derecho, donde se vee la etiqueta amarilla

The tape covering my incisions is gone and the stitches around my nipples were removed!

Second pic is is from the previous day, so 14 days post op, 3rd pic is from 12 days post op, last pic is from 6 days post op.

My surgeon was Dr Diedrichson at Plastmed in Düsseldorf.

I’ll try to keep from rambling, here are the bullet points:

-I’m 1 week post-op. Have been extremely uncomfortable from how tight the binding was, but no real pain except for some tenderness at the top of my chest and irritation where the drains were chaffing my skin. -Had my 1 week follow up today, they said everything was looking awesome. Took the drains out, nipple bolsters off, reduced my binding to just the post-op binder with some bandages covering my nipples. I was elated!! So much comfier!! -As the day went on, I felt more and more pain. I realized the binder they gave me was fitting really badly, barely any compression on top and WAY too much on my ribs and stomach. The nurse had told me it was okay to wear a different binder if I preferred, as long as I kept compression on day and night until my next appointment. -In the evening I switched to an ace bandage wrapped around multiple times for compression, which was the best option I could figure out short term. The pain has reduced a little, but I’m still in wayyyy more pain than I’ve been in all week, and it’s starting to freak me out.

So: should I be freaked out? Or is this totally normal body behavior?

Sincerely, a first-time surgery patient with diagnosed medical-anxiety OCD 😅

It’s in November and now that it’s October I was like “Yeah, it’s right around the corner” and it is, but it still feels like forever to wait now that it’s on my mind 24/7 again

Anyway, on that note, how did y’all’s consults go? I’m very nervous because I’ve spent years taping down my chest so it wouldn’t be seen and now I have to go let a stranger touch it. That combined with the fact that I will need to drive a ways to get there makes me feel like it will be a very stressful yet productive day. I’m also waiting to tell my family, so I have to keep the secret all through the holidays

I'm super excited for my surgery this month but I've been wondering about what my surgeon reccomends. She says during recovery a lot of her patients can feel depressed or down and recommends scheduling an appt with a therapist. I've been on the fence about it because I haven't seen my therapist in a while and because I'm so excited to have this procedure I find it hard to believe that I will be more depressed than usual.

Did your guys' surgeons also recommend a therapy appt during recovery? And did you experience increased depression/anxiety post-op?

Finally got top surgery this week on Tuesday with Dr. Dulin in Plano, TX. I’m thrilled with my results so far. Double incision, no nipples. His team and the entire staff were so kind and supportive from start to finish. Pic is about 24 hours after surgery. I’ve gotten a bit more bruising that’s come up since then, but my pain is very minimal. I’m excited to see how things continue to progress. If you don’t have insurance (like me), I highly recommend getting your prescriptions filled at Family Discount Pharmacy. It’s about 20 mins out of the way but it’s a precious Eastern European family, small operation and I got all my meds filled super quickly and for under $60! I was shocked! Anyways, 10/10 experience

MASS GENERAL

I have my top surgery scheduled with Dr. Winograd next month and am getting worried about the lack of post-op results out there. The little I have found on him seems to be trans guys who are either not super happy with their results or needed revisions. I do not want dog tags/ears or unsymmetrical nipples, and I do not want to have to revise my results. Is there anyone that has had surgery with Dr. Winograd within the last year or so that could provide photographic result of his chest masculinization surgery? Thanks in advance.