Doctor's Advice - Bigger Breasts

Q.  Doctor, I would like to make my breasts bigger. Do you suggest I do breast implants? Are there any other methods?

A
Obviously, you are worrying about what you regard as the flatness of
your chest. I would urge you to get someone's opinion on this, like a
doctor or a nurse. I say that because of the fact that on many occasions
I have been consulted by women who thought their breasts were small,
but who, in fact, had fairly normal breasts.

However, if you are
sure that you want to enhance your bustline, the only practical thing to
do is to go to a plastic surgeon and ask him to insert an implant into
each breast. But that operation is very expensive, and it will hurt.
Also, please realise that it can go wrong! Occasionally, I have
encountered patients who ended up with 'cross-eyed breasts'.

Also,
you should be careful and make sure you pick a surgeon who does not use
the recently banned French breasts implants. These are made of very
cheap material, and they can erupt (burst) inside of you.

Other than surgery, there is very little else that can be done. Some of the other things women usually try include:

• Going on the Pill. This does create a slight increase in breast size in
  many women, but not all. And, of course, the Pill can have side
  effects.

• Getting pregnant. Although this often creates a temporary increase in breast measurement, it does not last.

• Using a 'bust developer'. These are devices which are supposed to
  exercise the muscles behind the breasts, making them more prominent. But
  the devices don't affect the actual breasts.

• Applying creams.
  Don't waste your money on any so-called 'bust-developing creams'. They
  won't work. And if they contain any active ingredients, they might be
  harmful.

• Buying a 'breast-enlargement machine'. This is a Chinese
  invention, though there is another version made in India. It is
  supposed to 'suck' and massage your breasts until they get larger. I
  have seen no medical evidence that the machine works.

• Taking
  'breast enhancement capsules'. It is claimed by some retailers that
  these are used by film stars. They are organic or herbal products which
  are alleged in some way to alter the oestrogen balance of the body. That
  does not seem very likely.

So, summing up, if you really do have
a very flat chest and want to do something about it, your only course
would be to consult a good plastic (cosmetic) surgeon. I wish you well.

Q  I am a 33-year-old guy and last week I got a very hard hit in the testicle by a cricket ball. I am desperate to know whether this will affect my fertility or sex life. Please help.

A.  Fortunately, most men who get hit in the testicles will 'get away with it', and everything turns out OK. But occasionally someone is the victim of such a violent blow that the testicle splits in two. That is usually accompanied by a lot of pain.

If you are not in a lot of pain, and if you are still able to get erections, then you are probably all right. But if you have the slightest doubt, please ask a doctor to check out your scrotum.

The odds are that he will be able to reassure you that all is well. However, it is possible that he may wish to arrange an ultrasound, which is a very useful scan for testicular damage. If the ultrasound test is reported as 'normal', then you can quit fretting.

But the ultrasound scan cannot actually tell whether you are fertile. If you wanted to be pretty sure on that point, you could ask a doctor to arrange a sperm test for you.

Q.  I saw a recent article in The Gleaner dealing with mental health. I have a family member who is suffering from depression and she was carried to the doctor and given medication.  She had started to take them, but now she has decided that, as far as she is concerned, they are not working. So she has stopped taking them!  I am at my wits' end. Is there anything that I can do to convince her to go back on the pills?

A.  I am sorry to hear about this. Your relative is obviously feeling very badly, and maybe she is not thinking straight. What I think she hasn't appreciated is that antidepressant pills do not work immediately. They build up their effect over a period of several weeks. So there is no point in expecting instant results.

Please tell her that. And inform her that, as a doctor, I think that she should give the medication a fair chance. Now it may be that she was distressed by the side effects when she first started to take the drug. If so, she could go back to her own doctor and ask about another antidepressant. There are many different ones available.

The other thing is this: depression responds very well to kindness and compassion from others. I am sure that you and your family are doing your best to cheer this poor woman up, and keep telling her that you love her.

Finally, some recent research indicates that gentle exercise is good therapy in many cases of depression. So, if you can get her to go out into the open air and do some exercise, that would probably help her along the road to recovery.

Q. I have an itching around the tip of my penis. Sometimes I wonder whether this is a sex infection caught from a woman with whom I committed adultery five years ago.

A.  Itching at the tip of the male organ is not generally a symptom of a sexually transmitted infection (STI). You may just have the condition called 'candida' (which many people in Jamaica call 'yeast'), or it may be a minor skin disorder. What you should do now is to ask a doctor to check out the tip of your penis. My guess is that she can prescribe some cream which will put matters right.

Q. Hello, Doctor. After many years of unexplained pain and horrible periods, I have now been diagnosed with endometriosis. I am 29 and I so badly want to have a baby. I know you said that there were organisations which could help women like me.

A. Yes. There is a good American organisation called Endo-Resolved. Their website offers masses of practical advice for women who have endometriosis. And if you need to, you can email questions to them. Please check out their site at: www.endo-resolved.com. There is also a local organisation called B.A.S.E where you can get more information.

Q. My wife has suddenly started to feel very 'tight' to me during sex. Could this be a hormonal thing, Doctor?

A.  It depends on how old she is. Is she near or past menopause? It could be that a decrease in her female hormone levels has caused this problem. You should talk it over with her. Perhaps she will agree to going to a doctor for a check-up.