The movie Fight Club, which I saw an eternity ago, is filled with probably one of the weirdest bunch of characters ever assembled in a film. And of all these characters, it was Meat Loaf's that got my attention.
The corpulent singer played Robert 'Bob" Paulson, a man with abnormally large breasts.
I remember being amused at the sight of his breasts jiggling with every move. Then I realized there's nothing funny about the condition, because it does exist. And it's quite common too, to varying degrees.
Known as gynaecomastia, the enlargement of the male breast is the result of an abnormal increase in the glandular tissue. Although it can be an indicator of other more dangerous underlying conditions in some cases, gynaecomastia is generally not physically harmful.
But that doesn't mean no damage is ever done.
In today's supposedly more tolerant and understanding world, men with large breasts are often at the receiving end of ridicule and cruel jokes, resulting in terrible embarrassment and social trauma. I know where I speak of, because one of my best friends in college had them. Every time we played basketball, he got teased that his breasts bounce along with the basketball he's dribbling. This is not to mention that when he jumped or ran down the court at full speed, his breasts hurt like hell.
Many men with larger than usual breasts, my friend included, more often than not withdraw from public exposure. And when they do need to go out, they would try to hide their condition by wearing thick shirts and avoiding bare-chested activities. My friend even wore plasters on his nipples so they wouldn't peek through his shirt.
Most gynaecomastia sufferers choose to live with the condition. Some have even taken to wearing a bra for support. But those who have become extremely self-conscious about it are opting to undergo plastic surgery for gynaecomastia, which takes about 1-3 hours. The procedure involves liposuction to remove the fatty tissue, and can be done under a general anaesthetic or local anaesthetic.
In about a month, most patients can get back to their normal activities, including exercise. And with a flatter, firmer and better-contoured chest, wearing tight-fitting shirts or going bare-chested while jogging is no longer out of the question.