Serious post. 17 year old DS has breasts.

[mckenzie]

Dh says it's just puppy fat. But they look much the same as 13 year old DD breasts, only bigger.
DS has dyspraxia and mild aspergers. He is also hyper mobile.

Could this be related do you think?
A hormone imbalance?

Is he chubby in general all over or just in the breast area? Might be worth a Dr's visit if it is worrying him, I guess at that age he would have to want to go though.

the condition is called gynecomastia and can either be hormone imbalance or excess fat deposits. have a GP look into this. boys can develop into their early 20's so it may be temporary (while he goes through a growth spurt).

It could be gynecomastia. A swelling of breast tissue in men, it's probably worth a trip to the GP.

www.nhs.uk/common-health-questions/mens-health/what-is-gynaecomastia/

thanks for the posts. how do I handle this?

DS has just come back from a holiday with his friend and the friend's family and it was mentioned that DS never went in the pool and was never seen without his top off.

We know from our holidays over the last few years that he always keep a top on so we know DS is bothered by it.

I second/third what pp have said. Trip to the gp, they may tell him to try to lose weight to see if it helps, then you'll have to push for further treatment.

I know someone who had them surgically removed, although had to fight for it as it was classed as cosmetic surgery. He's a whole lot more confident and less self conscious now years down the line.

OP I think you might need to just talk to him & say that you know he didn't go in the pool and see if he'll talk. Or mention that there's a medical condition that causes it & he doesn't have to put up with it if he's unhappy.

My Ds (Also ASD and Hypermobility Syndrome) had Gynacomastia when he was about 14. He was very thin then and still is. It was at the point in puberty when he was growing really quickly. His breast tissue went down within a year naturally.

I wonder if your Ds is just maybe having a slightly delayed puberty and it's happening a bit later for him?

Thanks for all the posts. I really appreciate it.
I did speak to DS last night and he does want to see the doctor. He didn’t go quite as far as to say that he hates his body, just that he doesn’t like it and it’s really unfair as others eat loads more than him and yet are skinny rakes.
We chatted about coke etc and he has said he’s going to cut it out all together (replace it with fizzy water if he feels the need for the fizz).

But, DS has a phobia of needles and I’m guesing the GP would want to do a blood test yes?

Yes they'd want to do blood tests. I'm not great with them either, I always explain that I'm not good with needles and look away. Unfortunately the dr will need to check for hormone issues etc so it's necessary.

The trouble is DS is more than not good with needles. I don't know where it has come from, but it's been like this for years. He hasn't had his MMR booster nor has he had the vaccinations that they give at secondary school. We tried hypnotherapy but it didn't work.