Sonoma County Gynecomastia Patients Ask About Crater Deformity

A crater deformity is a crater or depression on the male chest under the nipple/areola complex that has had inadequate blending of surrounding tissue for a firm smooth contour.  This condition can appear after gynecomastia surgery when too much fat and/or breasttissue has been removed during male breast reduction surgery. This will necessitate revision surgery.

Experienced surgeons have techniques for corrective surgery of this type. Once the patient has completely healed from the initial gynecomastia breast surgery, revision surgery can take place. The fat flap in general is the best choice and has become the most predictable. The fat flap is where the skin is elevated and the fat that surrounds the crater is sewn together filling in the depression. Sometimes the use of fat injections (also known as fat transfer or fat grafting) can take place but it all depends on the architecture of the defect.

Corrective surgery of this type is more challenging due to the fact that now there is scar tissue the surgeon must deal with from the original surgery. In addition to the scar tissue, the skin elasticity may have been somewhat compromised.

It is important that the patient chooses a Board Certified Plastic Surgeon that has a lot of experience with male breast reduction in order to avoid such a complication. 35% to 40% of Dr. Delgado’s gynecomastia surgeries comprise revision surgery of this type.