Your chest suddenly feels puffy and you have no idea where it’s coming from?

We got you! We’ll let you know if you simply need to hit the gym and lose a bit of extra weight or if you might have gynecomastia (gyno). We will do this by outlining the four main symptoms that usually come with the condition. 

This symptom is the most common one and most men that have gynecomastia will experience the swelling of breast gland tissue. In many cases, the increase in the breast tissue size will lead to tenderness of the breast, which may cause pain.

But careful, the swelling could also be caused by pseudogynecomastia, which is an increase in chest fast but not the breast gland tissue. This is mostly caused by obesity and can be solved by losing weight. To make sure you have gyno make sure to also check for the other common symptoms.

Hard lumps under the areola are a prime sign of gynecomastia. 

To check, move your fingers gently over your left and right nipple areas and check for small a (button-sized) lump or bump under the skin. The lump may be move easily between the breast tissue or be tender touch and does not have to be on both breasts.

If the lump is growing over time or is painful, you should go to the doctor to make sure the tissue is not inflamed and there is no other underlying condition.

Sometimes it may be hard to identify the swollen breast tissue under your nipples. 

Another indicator you can use is by checking whether your nipples have become larger or are bulging out more than usual.

This appearance of “puffy nipples” is caused by the swelling of the excess breast tissue. One possible way to know is to observe whether your nipples can easily be seen under a regular shirt. If that’s the case, you may have gynecomastia, however, this indicator is not as reliable as the two previous ones.

Nipple discharge is the leakage of fluid from one or both nipples. While this is not the most common symptom it is a strong indicator of a hormonal imbalance which is often the underlying cause behind gynecomastia.