Please Scroll Down to See Forums Below 
.jpg "Research Chemical Sciences")
.png "Research Chemical Sciences")
The following is documenting in detail my surgery experience with Dr. Bermant.
I wanted to share my experience so that others can learn from it and be really careful and diligent in their surgeon selection process.
The fact that some surgeon is very active on a number of web forums and has a good website does not mean that that surgeon’s skills are as they are represented in various postings where advertising is masked under the pretense of giving advise.
Two years ago I had a revision surgery with Dr. Bermant. I had slight surface scars and protruding nipples left from previous excision-only surgery for minor puffy nipples. I chose Dr. Bermant for the revision surgery because of his impressive website and his many answers on gynecomastia.org forum.
Here is my experience with the whole process:
Staff:
-------
Jane is very efficient and friendly, a stark contrast to Dr. Bermant.
Remote consultation:
-------------------------------
Dr. Bermant reads a script, he does not like to have any questions posed, and only provides scripted answers. When a question is posed, Dr. Bermant re-reads the scripted answer after saying in a very patronizing voice “I have already answered that” (when he did not).
Cost:
---------
I paid over $10 000 for the surgery (includes the surgeons fee, facility, anesthesia, ... compression garments). The initial quote is only for the surgeon’s fee and is much lower. Dr. Bermant does not accept credit cards, etc. only direct transfer to his account. Complete fee must be paid before surgery is scheduled. After I wired the money in advance of the surgery, I was the one who had to provide the proof that their bank has received the money as opposed to Dr. Berman’s office verifying the reception on their side. Dr. Bermant runs his office like as a tight money making machine. Not a paperclip moves unless a payment in full is received in advance. I was treated as a number not as a human being.
Day before surgery preparation:
-----------------------------------------------
Dr. Bermant comes across as extremely unfriendly and quite frankly pompous. He does not like to hear any questions nor any explanation from the patient on what their concern with their condition is. I was literally not allowed to speak until he was "done" with the examination and determining what surgery he is going to perform. Dr. Bermant answered all my questions with disdain saying either “I don't know”, or “I will decide during the surgery”, or “I've already answered that” (even thou he didn’t). I was basically not allowed to state what I wanted addressed with the surgery. Dr. Bermant instead focused on the small “craters” I had. I felt that he was more interested in proving his concept of fat flaps and take photos for his website, rather than helping me with my condition. I tried to explain that the craters are pretty minor issue, and that the bigger issue is the protruding nipples and surface scaring. He cut me off and told me that if I want to cancel the surgery he is going to charge me $1000 (by then the full amount for the surgery was in his account). So I shut up and put my future in his hands. I was treated like a peace of meat rather than a human being.
Dr. Bermant insisted on me signing a form permitting him to post my pictures on his website. When I stated that for privacy reasons I'd rather not, he got very annoyed. At the end of the examination his assistant Jane came to me and "hinted" that it is advisable to sign the form, that identity would not be revealed. I felt pressured and worried that it might affect the surgery if I don't sign, so I signed.
Day of surgery:
----------------------
Because the prior day consultation was so unsatisfactory in explaining what surgery will be actually performed, I wanted to briefly speak with Dr. Bermant. I was told that he does not want to speak to me, period. I did not see Dr. Bermant until after the surgery. Afterward I learned that Dr. Bermant performed the fat flap surgery to address the small cratering, but did not address the protruding nipples. (he decided what he wanted to do, and completely ignored my concerns)
Day after surgery:
-------------------------
Dr. Bermant wanted to take photos and got belligerent when due to a lot of pain I wasn't fast enough in removing my compression vest. My hands were shaking from me being in pain and him screaming at me that his patients do not have pain. It was an extremely humiliating and belittling experience. I have never been bullied like that in my life.
Dr. Bermant insisted that I must fly back (6 hour flight) the following week to have the dressing removed, that it is very important. So I did. Afterwards I realized that it wasn't really for the dressing removal (that took less than 1 min, and did not require an expert, the only thing that was done was that the Tegaderm film dressing was peeled off) but rather so that he can take pictures for his website. None of my questions about healing etc. were answered.
After care:
---------------
(I should state that I followed all the post surgery instructions precisely, wore the compression vest religiously for 8 weeks, …) When I experienced significant swelling and scaring, I was booked for phone consultation with Dr. Bermant. He again read some script and it was clear that I was bothering him. He implied that I must have not followed his instructions, made statement such that “his patients do not experience swelling”, and offered no help or opinion on the issue.
Results:
--------------
Results were not good. The fat flaps actually moved more tissue in the areola area which made them protrude even more. One of my areolas ended up significantly lower on my chest, making it look very odd (that completely killed my aspiration to compete in bodybuilding competitions). The closure of the excision was quite bad. I had to visit a local Dr’s office three weeks after my surgery to put one stitch in on each side, because the sides of the excisions were still opened. The old scars were removed (that was positive) and the new ones were somewhat better, but I was surprised to see how imprecise and sloppy the incisions were. They did not follow the edge of the areola and were not round, but were rather straight cutting through the bottom part of the areolas. They were also quite large, which surprised me given that Dr. Bermant advertises how small his incisions are.
When it became apparent after 8 months of healing that things will not get better, I wanted a revision surgery, but my calls and emails to Dr. Bermant's office were not answered. Eventually I was told that the results are good (this is without Dr. Bermant ever seeing me) and that is it.
I thought that the high cost of the surgery (his cost was higher than all the other surgeon's I contacted prior to the surgery) meant that I ma getting the best. I was wrong.
I eventually had a revision surgery with another surgeon that fixed both the scars (the scars I have now are practically invisible) and the protruding nipples. Unfortunately the position of the areola was not possible to fix and I am permanently disfigured.
The whole experience with Dr. Bermant was extremely stressful and disappointing, not to mention expensive.
Dr. Bermant claims very small (1%) revision rate. One reason for that is perhaps that he (at least sometimes) refuses to do revisions of his own patients even when it is clear that there were issues with the surgery right from the start. I certainly didn't count towards that revision percentage even though I did have revision.
I wanted to share my experience so that others can learn from it and be really careful and diligent in their surgeon selection process.
The fact that some surgeon is very active on a number of web forums and has a good website does not mean that that surgeon’s skills are as they are represented in various postings where advertising is masked under the pretense of giving advise.
Two years ago I had a revision surgery with Dr. Bermant. I had slight surface scars and protruding nipples left from previous excision-only surgery for minor puffy nipples. I chose Dr. Bermant for the revision surgery because of his impressive website and his many answers on gynecomastia.org forum.
Here is my experience with the whole process:
Staff:
-------
Jane is very efficient and friendly, a stark contrast to Dr. Bermant.
Remote consultation:
-------------------------------
Dr. Bermant reads a script, he does not like to have any questions posed, and only provides scripted answers. When a question is posed, Dr. Bermant re-reads the scripted answer after saying in a very patronizing voice “I have already answered that” (when he did not).
Cost:
---------
I paid over $10 000 for the surgery (includes the surgeons fee, facility, anesthesia, ... compression garments). The initial quote is only for the surgeon’s fee and is much lower. Dr. Bermant does not accept credit cards, etc. only direct transfer to his account. Complete fee must be paid before surgery is scheduled. After I wired the money in advance of the surgery, I was the one who had to provide the proof that their bank has received the money as opposed to Dr. Berman’s office verifying the reception on their side. Dr. Bermant runs his office like as a tight money making machine. Not a paperclip moves unless a payment in full is received in advance. I was treated as a number not as a human being.
Day before surgery preparation:
-----------------------------------------------
Dr. Bermant comes across as extremely unfriendly and quite frankly pompous. He does not like to hear any questions nor any explanation from the patient on what their concern with their condition is. I was literally not allowed to speak until he was "done" with the examination and determining what surgery he is going to perform. Dr. Bermant answered all my questions with disdain saying either “I don't know”, or “I will decide during the surgery”, or “I've already answered that” (even thou he didn’t). I was basically not allowed to state what I wanted addressed with the surgery. Dr. Bermant instead focused on the small “craters” I had. I felt that he was more interested in proving his concept of fat flaps and take photos for his website, rather than helping me with my condition. I tried to explain that the craters are pretty minor issue, and that the bigger issue is the protruding nipples and surface scaring. He cut me off and told me that if I want to cancel the surgery he is going to charge me $1000 (by then the full amount for the surgery was in his account). So I shut up and put my future in his hands. I was treated like a peace of meat rather than a human being.
Dr. Bermant insisted on me signing a form permitting him to post my pictures on his website. When I stated that for privacy reasons I'd rather not, he got very annoyed. At the end of the examination his assistant Jane came to me and "hinted" that it is advisable to sign the form, that identity would not be revealed. I felt pressured and worried that it might affect the surgery if I don't sign, so I signed.
Day of surgery:
----------------------
Because the prior day consultation was so unsatisfactory in explaining what surgery will be actually performed, I wanted to briefly speak with Dr. Bermant. I was told that he does not want to speak to me, period. I did not see Dr. Bermant until after the surgery. Afterward I learned that Dr. Bermant performed the fat flap surgery to address the small cratering, but did not address the protruding nipples. (he decided what he wanted to do, and completely ignored my concerns)
Day after surgery:
-------------------------
Dr. Bermant wanted to take photos and got belligerent when due to a lot of pain I wasn't fast enough in removing my compression vest. My hands were shaking from me being in pain and him screaming at me that his patients do not have pain. It was an extremely humiliating and belittling experience. I have never been bullied like that in my life.
Dr. Bermant insisted that I must fly back (6 hour flight) the following week to have the dressing removed, that it is very important. So I did. Afterwards I realized that it wasn't really for the dressing removal (that took less than 1 min, and did not require an expert, the only thing that was done was that the Tegaderm film dressing was peeled off) but rather so that he can take pictures for his website. None of my questions about healing etc. were answered.
After care:
---------------
(I should state that I followed all the post surgery instructions precisely, wore the compression vest religiously for 8 weeks, …) When I experienced significant swelling and scaring, I was booked for phone consultation with Dr. Bermant. He again read some script and it was clear that I was bothering him. He implied that I must have not followed his instructions, made statement such that “his patients do not experience swelling”, and offered no help or opinion on the issue.
Results:
--------------
Results were not good. The fat flaps actually moved more tissue in the areola area which made them protrude even more. One of my areolas ended up significantly lower on my chest, making it look very odd (that completely killed my aspiration to compete in bodybuilding competitions). The closure of the excision was quite bad. I had to visit a local Dr’s office three weeks after my surgery to put one stitch in on each side, because the sides of the excisions were still opened. The old scars were removed (that was positive) and the new ones were somewhat better, but I was surprised to see how imprecise and sloppy the incisions were. They did not follow the edge of the areola and were not round, but were rather straight cutting through the bottom part of the areolas. They were also quite large, which surprised me given that Dr. Bermant advertises how small his incisions are.
When it became apparent after 8 months of healing that things will not get better, I wanted a revision surgery, but my calls and emails to Dr. Bermant's office were not answered. Eventually I was told that the results are good (this is without Dr. Bermant ever seeing me) and that is it.
I thought that the high cost of the surgery (his cost was higher than all the other surgeon's I contacted prior to the surgery) meant that I ma getting the best. I was wrong.
I eventually had a revision surgery with another surgeon that fixed both the scars (the scars I have now are practically invisible) and the protruding nipples. Unfortunately the position of the areola was not possible to fix and I am permanently disfigured.
The whole experience with Dr. Bermant was extremely stressful and disappointing, not to mention expensive.
Dr. Bermant claims very small (1%) revision rate. One reason for that is perhaps that he (at least sometimes) refuses to do revisions of his own patients even when it is clear that there were issues with the surgery right from the start. I certainly didn't count towards that revision percentage even though I did have revision.
