Men besieged by man boobs used to hide under t-shirts at the beach, but now they're blasting away the fat with increasing visits to the cosmetic surgeon.

"Men are more aware now that it's a problem that can be corrected," Miami Plastic Surgeon Dr. Michael Kelly tells StyleList.

For the second year, male breast reduction surgery – known as gynecomastia – is the fastest growing plastic surgery in England, the BBC News reports. Though 581 Brits suited up for slimmer chests, a hefty 18,000 men did the same in the USA in 2008 – the last year that figures have been updated.

While the most common causes of the embarrassing bulge vary from weight gain to steroid and marijuana drug use, you don't have to be obese to have man boobs.

"Most of my patients are actually in-shape and conscious about the way they look, but can't get rid of that aging weight gain in their 40's and 50's that's in their chest," says Dr. Kelly.

The procedure itself utilizes lipo technology, with ¼ inch cut under the breast crease where fat is suctioned out. It's often done in an hour with dissolvable stitches under general anaesthesia, and patients may have to wear a compression vest to help shrink the skin for three weeks afterwards.

But why are guys suddenly so self-conscious about their chests?

"Many men are feeling the pressure from men's magazines that weren't even being published five or six years ago," Consultant Plastic Surgeon Rajiv Grover told the BBC.

Sounds to us like the boys are finally feeling what it's like to be a woman in this Cosmo-cover loving world.

The cost of a more magazine-worthy chest? Typically $3500-$5000 for a male breast reduction surgery in the USA.

But before you drop the change, making healthy dietary and exercise changes as well as refraining from recreational steroid and marijuana use could cause a reduction significant enough for you to go bare-chested by summer's start.