7 Things to Know About FTM Top Surgery

There are 7 things to know about FTM Top surgery if you are seriously considering undergoing this process:

ONE: While fairly obvious, a trans man must have completed all the medical, psychosocial, and legal requisites to undergo FTM Top surgery. Board certified plastic surgeons will not proceed until these are completed. While this might be considered discrimination ( I have been accused of this!), it is for safety and well being!

TWO: You must seek a board certified plastic surgeon, who is well versed in performing Top surgery. Not all certified plastic surgeons are adept at these procedures; it is a subspecialty and a careful search will allow you to find the surgeon that is right for you.

THREE: FTM top surgery requires general anesthesia and must be administered by certified anesthesia personnel. Real, board certified plastic surgeons have to attest to using facilities that are safe and certified by local authorities. In order to maintain certification, we must attest to this yearly. Make sure you ask about anesthesia and who is actually doing it. I only use board certified . This is the safest and ONLY way I will perform any surgery! You would cringe if you research, who actually performs anesthesia in some office based facilities!

FOUR: You need to make sure that you chose a certified, safe facility for your surgery. Surgical centers and hospitals must meet stringent certification processes. Having surgery in these facilities assures a safety standard has been met. Surgeons office based facilities may not be as safe as you would think! I only operate in hospital based facilities to assure maximum effort is made to assure patients’ safety!

FIVE: There are many options for top surgery that should be tailored to the individual, one size does not fit all. I have seen some unfortunate results because a surgeon had only one technique to apply to each patient. When the only tool you have is a hammer, the whole world is a nail! This should never apply to surgery! Procedures vary with the size of the original breast dimensions; length, width, nipple position, and skin laxity. Evaluation of these factors is used for me to determine what technique will attain the most masculine chest.

SIX: Scars are permanent and challenging to conceal on a male chest. This is the most disappointing aspect of top surgery; there will be visible, permanent scars on most men! While we do our best to hide them as best we can, often and typical female breast has a lot of skin that needs removal, this does require scars underneath the breast fold. I design FTM procedures to assure these scars are concealed as best we can, we offer several effective scar therapies to minimize these scars which optimizes the results we can obtain for you.

SEVEN: The right technique applied to the right male can produce amazing results creating a masculine chest that looks great and natural in and out of clothes!

BONUS:!!!!!  Michael S. Beckenstein, M.D. is an Alabama plastic surgeon who specializes in breast surgery. He is well versed in all aspects of breast surgery including over 10 methods of performing breast reductions. Using this knowledge and experience, he has devised several techniques for top surgery and will develop the one best suited for his FTM patients. He has publications that contributed to the anatomy of this surgery. Dr. Beckenstein also has empathy and compassion for his FTM patients as he has a family member who has undergone this amazing transformation!

please visit us online to get to know Dr. Beckenstein and his practice better.