Submitted 1 day ago by neidu4@piefed.social to [deleted]
Let’s say I, a middle aged cis man went to my doctor, wanting gender affirming care, and my doctor wanted to provide - what, if anything, would the treatment/care consist of? Just making sure my testosterone level was up to Hegseth-approved standards?
Sure, a lot of it is exactly the same. Hormone treatments for men with low-T, hair removal or replacement, plastic surgery, etc. We don’t trend to call it gender affirming care in cisgender people, but that’s exactly what it is.
For men: hair plugs, Rogaine, testosterone replacement therapy, those compression vests Inget advertised on YouTube.
For women: botox, breast enlargement, Brazilian butt lift, laser hair removal, hormone replacement therapy,
That’s a shirt list off the top of my head.
Men can also need a mastectomy if they start developing breasts due to some medical condition or hormodal issues. Something called gynecomastia .
This one is very common is cis-het men. Know people in Trump country that have had it done.
Penis enlargement, testicular implants, implants to look more muscular
I had breast cancer. The chemo and mastectomy were cancer care. The reconstruction of my breast is not cancer care, it is gender affirming care, as it affirms my cis gender as a woman.
Reconstruction is not necessary at all for cancer care and in fact causes more surgeries than if I was to just have the cancer removed and go on the rest of my life with one boob.
They just don’t call it “gender affirming” care if you are cis, they just call it healthcare.
I have some many questions…. feel free to answer as many as you want, if any at all:
There is a lot of different answers to these questions, I’ll give you the jist, then my specific answer.
Where does the breast tissue come from?
There is two main ways to do reconstruction - the most comment is breast implant. In this case they remove all of the breast tissue and leave just the skin. The remaining space is filled with a implant and the size of the implant is determined by how much skin you have. The second way it can be done is to transplant tissue from another part of your body to the breast area, it is usually from either the belly area (DEIP Flap) or from the back area (TRAM Flap). This type of surgery requires the surgery match up the tissue transplant on a vascular level (vein by vein) to make sure the transplanted tissue does not die.
I had a DEIP flap reconstruction - it requires almost a week hospital stay due to how complex the surgery is and recovery is 6-8 weeks, but honestly its been just about a two years and I am still recovering and also I have an additional revision surgery that I still need because - no I am not even close to being even.
How does one sculpt a nipple?
They typically do not. Normally the nipple is removed entirely. In the reconstruction I have heard of the nipple being rebuild but, its not nipple tissue, so its not the right color and it cannot react to environmental stimuli and from what I’ve seen, gets stuck sort of “hard”. When the nipple is removed most people will opt for a tattoo replacement. They look very very real and you don’t have the issue permanently smuggling raisins around. I was able to keep my nipple, visually it looks like a nipple, but I can no longer feel it.
Are they as sensitive as before?
No they lose all sensation, can’t even feel the skin, so not even like elbow skin, totally numb. They had to rebuild my stomach and belly button, so I also cannot feel anything across my lower abdomen either.
Does having breast cancer on one side automatically increase the chances of cancer on the other side? I would think symmetry isn’t a given?
No, the risk of recurrence is the same. If I was to have the same type of cancer in my other breast it would be a recurrence, not new cancer and after treatment my risk of recurrence is lower than my chance of getting a totally new type of cancer.
Were you able or allowed to choose size and shape? (If so, did you go for the tried and true original?)
Short answer no, long answer I was not very well endowed to begin with and my reconstruction was limited by the amount of tissue I could use for transplanting. So, again no and also they aren’t both the same size anymore, the reconstructed one is quite a bit smaller and not really the right shape, which is what I am going back in for more surgery to fix. If you had way more breast tissue than I did, there is more options for reconstruction, but from the woman I have talked to, most people end up going smaller or staying the same. Going up larger brings in a lot of complication and can only happen if you get a implant reconstruction and not a transplant.
Hope you’re doing well today. Not a question, I just wanted to say (write) it. Live long and prosper.
Thanks I plan on it 🖖
Just want to also point out for readers that this entire comment is only about gender affirming care and has nothing to do with medically treating cancer, but because we are affirming my breasts for my gender as a cis woman, its just healthcare.
Not the OP, but knowing someone who’s been through something similar I can answer a few of your questions. She had this surgery nearly two decades ago, so modern procedures may be completely different:
Yep. They also have implants for those who have had their testicles removed due to testicular cancer. I would say that is more gender affirming because you could make the argument that replacing a breast will have cosmetic effects.
Sure. I am past menopause and take low dose hormones (more to avoid migraines and stay healthy than to be more ‘feminine’ but could take more, a lot of doctors do try to reach some level, mine does MHT not HRT ).
Middle-aged guys, yes, I think testosterone is certainly gender-affirming care, and there is no MHT equivalent for men, testosterone requires blood tests, you can’t just find the lowest dose that relieves symptoms, they always aim for some level in the blood. The Viagra/Cialis I think is more to correct for a problem. Or for recreation.
Yea. Most cosmetic procedures would count. I don’t see how a woman getting breast implants is one iota different than a trans woman getting top surgery.
Is this a joke question? Like others have pointed out, gender affirming care is even more popular among cis people than trans.
On an absolute scale sure, because most people are cis. But on a per person scale is it more popular for cis people? This is purely anecdotally speaking, but the only people I personally know who’ve had gender affirming care are trans
I sincerely doubt that. Almost every plastic surgery that’s not a result of a disfiguring accident is gender affirming care. Viagra is gender affirming care. From hair plugs to Corvette is gender affirming care.
This is definitely because a lot of cis ppl don’t even know that what they are doing is gender affirming care.
Getting Viagra is GAC. Cis men don’t love talking about how they got out on Viagra or need T shots or gels.
Women going through menopause and being given HRT to manage the symptoms are getting GAC. They don’t call it that, but that’s what it is.
Your argument is deeply flawed, like people who insist that autism didn’t exist 100 years ago. It definitely did! We just didn’t call it that. Just because you don’t call it that, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.
Most gender affirming care is for cis people, they just don’t want to admit it 😂
Are you stating that care that affirms your gender is gender affirming care?!?
What’s the difference, my opinion, the definition of gender affirming care is.
Treatment to allow your external body to match the characteristics that you feel your body should be.
Which would include, boob jobs, hair transplants. hormones, anything to build up muscle, anything to fix erectile dysfunction etc…
of course not, it would expose thier hyprocisy, of denying transgender people thier surgeries.
Yes.
Gynomastia is a thing that causes some boys to endure a lot of bullying in school. Erectile dysfunction causes issues for older men. The treatment for both of those conditions is gender affirming treatment.
Loads of others, too.
But more to the point, it should not matter why a person needs gender affirming care. That should be a decision between a patient and their doctors, not me, not you, and not the government.
menopause.
Well, yeah. I’m a cis woman who takes oestrogen because they removed my ovaries; I do so for gendered reasons, there’s a reason why I don’t take testosterone instead which would be an equally valid way of replacing my missing hormones from a physiological perspective. I also shave my face for gendered reasons, because people are a lot more judgemental about women having facial hair than men. Cis men who are born with penises but lose them get phalloplasty. And so on.
Look at any tough-guy gym… There’ll be testosterone offered to make you a “real man”.
Or breast implants for women who want bigger boobs. Those are both designed to help cis folks feel more like they’re the man/woman they think they need to be.
Which is why if gender affirming care is ever outlawed in my purple/red state, I’m going to be reporting the fuck out of the maga gym near by.
That’s not gender affirming care. That’s just men practicing and enhancing their masculinity.
It may be founded in insecurities, but those would be treated by a psychologist if an actual treatment were to take place.
Is “I hate my shoulders, I wish they were broader so that I could look more manly” and “I hate my boobs, I look like a plank, not a real woman” not dysphoric enough for you?
This has big “only trans people have gender identity” energy.
roiding up, PED is most certainly gender affirming care, that is also railed on transgendered people.
I have a testosterone gel I apply daily and get regular blood tests to monitor my hormones.
Gave me chest hair, thicker facial hair, and decent erections.
I thought those gels were a scam. Do you apply it where you want (more) hair growth?
I’m sure the internet is full of scam gels. In the US, I’m pretty sure you need a doctor’s prescription for the real thing.
Just a heads up so you’re sure you’re both talking about the same thing here.
I rub it into my underarms where the skin is thinnest. It just increases your T levels so more body hair starts growing, it’s not like rogain.
It definitely works, I go into a 3rd party lab for a blood test every three months so I can see exactly where my hormone levels are at, they also test liver, blood numbers, and look for any cancer signifiers.
What about those little blue pills?
Even gas stations can provide something like that. Totally unregulated, of course.
I’d also like to affirm my gender as a guy with a 12" penis. I need to be living my best life.
Very relevant username.
This too sounds like “gender affirming self care”
Self care is important for one’s mental health
yes. from as small as hair transplants to blue chews. heck even the mil will give low t soldiers shots.
Viagra/cialis/etc and testosterone supplements if your numbers are “low” are the most common for men.
Yeah, Hair restoration. Testosterone therapy.
Those are literally classified as gender affirming care. Cosmetic implants might be too but since cis women tend to get those any terminology used to classify them as valid is going arrive far later
PENIS enlargment, which is have a very sketchy process.,
I’ve heard multiple times that using testosterone supplements degrades your body’s ability to make testosterone naturally. So once you start using supplements you always have to use them. Otherwise they sound interesting. Just a few injections and I can type in ALL CAPS whenever I want? Sign me up.
if you already naturally make low T amounts, TEST supplementation wouldnt affect that anyways.
Frankly, as a trans person, I’m not a fan of the term. I didn’t get treatment to “affirm my gender.” I changed my sex. I literally changed my sex. I didn’t get “gender affirming treatment” or whatever the new entry on the euphemism treadmill is we’re supposed to use this year.
My trans kid uses transgender because his body is still female in most ways but he does use T and is a he. I think only when you change genitals that’s changing your sex, right?
I would argue HRT changes your sex.
Does this mean that the older term term “sex change” is more appropriate?
Frankly I prefer that to the wishy washy language around gender.
Gynecomastia surgery seems like it’d fit the category.
Testosterone, rick pills, breast augmentation, literally HRT for menopause. Thats just off the top of my head.
I think one of the most common procedures that align with this, would be surgery to address gynecomastia. Its a fairly widespread procedure.
You have low testosterone. You lose your penis and/or balls or damage them.
Yes it exists. It can be adjusting testosterone/estrogen if not at good level, hair transplant, etc But I only know the surface level, not really the details much
Erectile dysfunction medication, prostate care, testosterone suppliments and male hormone medications and treatments, and plenty of other things along those lines would certainly qualify as gender affirming care.
Indeed it is. Most money in teenage gender affirming care goes into removing tits from obese boys.
Yes. Viagra, breast implants, breast reduction, hair transplants, laser hair removal, cosmetic surgery, even Musk’s botched penis job are all forms of gender affirming surgery
That’s like asking if you can have an arm treated for being broken when it’s not actually broken.
Or like having your penis treated to become a penis when it’s already a penis.
What’s wrong with you?
That’s just like, your opinion man
Crozekiel@lemmy.zip 7 hours ago
“Low T” treatment, hair loss drugs, little blue pulls (in some situations), etc.
billwashere@lemmy.world 3 hours ago
You mean like masturbating smurfs?
Oh you meant little blue pills