The decision to have plastic surgery done is often an intensely personal one, and transgender men who opt for it typically experience a number of potential advantages, including improved mental health and overall well-being, decreased gender dysphoria, increased self-esteem, and greater satisfaction with and within their own body.
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What Is Gender Affirmation Surgery?
Surgery to assist with a person’s transition to their self-identified gender is referred to as gender confirmation surgery, gender affirmation surgery, or reassignment surgery. Surgery may be performed so that a person’s physical body corresponds to their gender identification. Gender affirmation surgery is often chosen by those who experience gender dysphoria. Gender dysphoria is the suffering that results when your gender identity does not match your sex given at birth.
Types of Surgeries for Transgender Men
Mastectomy
Mastectomy, sometimes known as “top surgery,” is usually the first—and sometimes the only—surgical treatment undertaken on a transman transitioning patient.
Mastectomy is a procedure that removes excess breast tissue to give the chest a more masculine look. A variety of procedures may be used to produce the desired aesthetic effect, depending on your specific demands and anatomy.
Bilateral mastectomy with free nipple grafts, the periareolar procedure, and adjuvant lateral chest wall liposuction are some of these options. The procedure entails sculpting a manly upper chest by eliminating fat and glandular tissue. The breasts are removed during a mastectomy, and the female breast tissue is eliminated as well, resulting in a sculpted and trim upper chest.
Facial Masculinization Surgery
The term “facial masculinization surgery” refers to a variety of operations that may be used to give the face a more chiseled and masculine look. FMS is a critical component of the female-to-male transition since face characteristics provide key visual indications as to one’s gender.
Body Masculinization
The purpose of body masculinization also known as “man-sculpting” is to remove some of the classically feminine-assigned characteristics from the body and replace them with more masculine characteristics.
Body masculinization surgery (BMS) is an excellent choice for transmen who want to attain a more masculine appearance across their upper and lower bodies. A wide and defined upper chest, a trim waist, and minimum fat in the lower body are all characteristics of the conventional masculine shape.
While diet, exercise, and hormone treatment may help to masculinize the body, certain fat storage sites might be impossible to modify without surgery. BMS is a liposuction procedure that reduces the feminine “hourglass” form and creates a manly physique by targeting fat in the flanks, inner and outer thighs, upper torso, chest, back, and/or buttocks.
Phalloplasty
Phalloplasty is a procedure that may help people with genital gender dysphoria. Patients typically have to worry about extensive scarring in order to have more male-appearing and functioning genitalia, which may not only be a giveaway that they’ve undergone gender-related surgery, but can also create discomfort and functional issues.
A phalloplasty is a multi-stage treatment that may entail the formation of the penis, stretching the urethra so you can stand to urinate, constructing the tip (glans) of the penis, development of the scrotum, elimination of the vagina, and the placement of erectile and testicular implants. This type of procedure is one of the most rewarding surgeries for transgender males.
Surgery to Confirm Gender Identity
A transman may opt to undergo gender confirmation surgery as the ultimate stage in their transition. The patient initially has a vaginoplasty and then a total hysterectomy, which includes the removal of the ovaries.
The existing outer genitalia are then utilized to generate a penis with feeling and some function, as well as a male urethra, from the existing outer genitalia. The clitoris is responsible for forming the head of the penis, which allows for erectile function.
Finally, the labia majora are used to create a scrotum, and testicular implants are then implanted. Because GCS is a significant procedure, it is critical to choose a surgeon who is well-versed in the procedure and has extensive experience. Gender affirmation procedures may help individuals transition to the gender they identify with.
These types of surgeries may include procedures to alter the appearance of the face, chest, or genitalia among others. In this process, the patient also has the option of having a single procedure or a combination of them at once. We hope that this introductory article was sufficient in learning the basics regarding this type of surgical process.
Because there are several characteristics and details to these kinds of procedures, it is important to be informed of the risks and advantages associated with each of the surgical processes in order to have a better understanding of what to anticipate from these types of treatments.