Hey all, i'm 17, and started getting into shape in January. so far i have lost over 15 pounds, and all is going well. One problem, though, is that on my left breast/pec i have a hard ball-shaped lump under the skin. doctor said it was due to puberty, but its been there a while and it painful if hit. now that my pecs are developing, the left one look different and odd compared to the right one. anybody ever experience this "breast bud" thing? does it go away? what is it? thanks

-Ben

I would recommend you go see another Doc for a second opinion. Perhaps there is something that can be done. I have never personally heard of something like this. Is there a scientific name for the condition or did he just say "lump"?

well i dont remember, it was a while ago. she said, i believe, it was an overgrowth of (muscle?) tissue, or some kind of tissue. she said it was natural, but its really kind of bothersome.

Get a second opinion, a third opinion, doctors are only human and not all doctors are equal. TRUST me on this :)

Ben, I had the same thing when I went through puberty back in my teen years. The lumps were in my nipples and they hurt when bumped.

Go to this link and scroll down to the boys section... look under 'Breast Enlargement'.

** click ** (http://www.medem.com/MedLB/article_detaillb.cfm?article_ID=ZZZZMDBW8FC&sub_cat=15)


Breast Enlargement. Many boys experience swelling of the breasts during the early years of puberty. Most often, your son may feel a flat, buttonlike bump under one or both nipples. His breasts may also feel tender or even painful. After a few months - sometimes longer - the swelling will disappear; these boys will not develop true breasts.

I would check with another doctor just to be sure though.

Ben,

I got the same thing during high school. I worried and worried about them and finally during a physical for football asked the doctor.

Here's how he explained it: As a young man going throught puberty my body was producing massive amounts of testosterone (I wish I had those levels now at 40). In order to compenstate for these high levels your body will also produce estrogen to help balance things out. These "breast buds" as the doctor called them are a result of that--hand in there! Mine eventually cleared up and the tenderness went away. This hormonal warfare is the same thing that causes teen age skin problems, changing voices, thickening eyebrows and development of secondary sexual characteristics.

The short of it: you're fine. In the next few years you should be able to add some serious mass (if that's what you are working towards)

If the problems persists into your twenties get a consultation with an endocrinologist.

I had the same thing when I went through puberty. I had the problem just under my nipple and it hurt like hell when it was bumped. I got freaked out because I thought that there was something wrong and I was growing boobs! Of course it went away after a week or so.


I haven't heard about that happening anywhere but under the nipple. You can think about it this way, up until puberty, the body of a male and female are pretty similar in makeup (aside from the obvious hardware differences). The big difference starts to come when the hormones kick in. In a woman, the functional glands and features around the breast area become fully developed and enlarged. In the male, those areas aren't affected the same way because of the different hormones testosterone and estrogen. The key thing is that the core glands and features may still be contained within the tissue, just totally under developed. Now glands and features aren't just isolated to the areas under nipple. So when the hormones kick in, the body will target the area of the gland to develop it into what ever your gender dictates. Now for some males, there might be a spurt of estrogen followed by a dominating dose of testosterone. In the transformation process, the area may become a little sore for a while, but should go away. Now I'm not a doctor or anything close to one, but I have seen some scientific programs on TV that back up the assertions that had been made by your first doctor. If you don't feel that this is the case then most definitely go get a second opinion.

I just realized that this is basically the same thing that tonyboli just said.

I don't think you have anything to worry about.

I had the same thing also, but it was after puberty and in college when I got really fat and unhealthy. The doctor said it was due to lots of estrogen from being a fatty. I stopped eating like a pig and it went away.

Not a big deal really. It'll pass.

<edit>I should also mention mine was only in one breast.

Ben, I would like to reiterate what someone said when they suggested you get a second opinion on that lump just to be sure everything is ok. Common thinking is that if you have the hormones in your body to produce a little gynecomastia, it should be happening in *both* breasts, as they are both exposed to the same blood. The fact that it's only happening in one might suggest something different than mere gynecomastia. Not that it's necessarily bad, but I would check it out.
----------EDIT------------
Just had a lecture today where the lecturer said that gynecomastia can happen under one nipple only. The other day a doc lecturing said that it mainly happened under both, and if it was only in one it needed to be checked out. So go figure....the experts don't agree on this. Use your own judgement. :rolleyes: