Fat is the most common reason men notice a fuller chest, but they can experience other breast enlargement issues. Vladimir Vladimirov/E+/Getty Images

Breast changes in men are common. Sometimes it’s fat. Sometimes it’s breast tissue growth. Rarely, it’s cancer.

A concern male patients bring up in my office — sometimes joking, sometimes with embarrassment — is “man boobs.” For some men, chest enlargement is simply fat. For others, it’s gynecomastia, the medical term for breast tissue growth. In many cases, it’s both fat and tissue growth at the same time.

Gynecomastia is more common than many people realize. Research suggests that asymptomatic gynecomastia — growth without pain or tenderness — is present in 30% to 50% of healthy men. That means nearly half of men may experience some

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