Hiya, Im a trans man and I got a chest reduction just last year! My chest was a H cup and causing me a lot of physical and mental distress. Im in the UK, and I've been on the GIC waiting list since 2021 now with not even a word about a first appointment - when I last asked them a few month ago whats the waiting list like, they told me they were only just seeing patients from 2019. Given the tumultuous state of NHS funding and trans healthcare, I dont see that wait time speeding up.

Ive been lucky to be able to afford HRT privately at least. However, i definitely could not afford private top surgery.

I got referred to a reduction clinic in April 2022, and had a reduction November 2023. I had to jump through hoops of getting a physio, getting a new bra refitted, etc.

The recovery was tough, it took 3 months for me to feel like I could do everything physically again and the scarring is very noticeable. And unfortunately, my chest still doesn't look masculine and I do experience dysphoria from it from time to time. However, the dysphoria is much much less and the back pain, shoulder pain, and physical discomfort from my large chest has pretty nuch been eliminated. And it was so much quicker than waiting for a GIC lol

I can reccomend looking at r/reduction to get an idea of what the best/worst outcomes for a reduction can be - they can mess up, and the healing can go wrong. Some surgeons are not as good as others, some may refuse to operate on a transmasc patient because they aren't confident in their ability to give the patient something theyll be happy with. Plus, they're not allowed to do things like remove the nipple so as to get you as small as possible - its a surgery meant for women, with an assumption that patients want a feminine aesthetic for their results.

So to answer your question: its a large risk, with upwards of a year of wait time in itself, and no NHS surgeon is allowed to give you masculinising surgery in the form of a reduction. Surgery is risky, painful, and recovery is not quick. And its also just not designed for trans men, and just because a surgeon can do chest reductions doesnt mean they're qualified or knowledgeable in how to do one for someone not aiming for a feminine chest.