Surfers already have plenty of occupational hazards: reef cuts, surfer’s ear, sun damage, and the occasional board to the face.
Now add “liposurfoma” to the list.
The strange-looking condition produces soft, often symmetrical lumps along the lower chest and upper abdomen of longtime surfers. A new wave of attention followed a report featuring UC Irvine dermatologist Dr. Jeffrey Klein, whose research describes the growths as benign fibrolipomas that can sometimes be mistaken for cancer.
The name is relatively new; the condition isn’t.
Klein and colleagues studied seven surfers and proposed “liposurfoma” for fatty, fibrous masses appearing where the chest repeatedly presses against a shortboard while prone paddling.
Researchers believe years of low-grade compression between the board and rib margin trigger an abnormal repair response, creating fibrous and fatty tissue beneath the skin. The masses generally become larger with increased surfing and can diminish somewhat during long periods out of the water.
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The recent video report describes the condition as affecting “longtime surfers” and potentially being “mistaken for cancer.” Klein’s study goes further, noting that the lesions appear “rather common” among older surfers.
Think cauliflower ear, but surfing-specific — although medically it isn’t actually cartilage buildup. Liposurfomas are composed of fibrous tissue and fat.
And old-school surfers have apparently known about the phenomenon forever. Chest “surfer’s knots” were described in medical literature as far back as 1973.
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Then there’s Corky Carroll.
In 2010, the legendary surfer wrote about his own unusual chest bumps for the Orange County Register, memorably dubbing himself “the man with four breasts.”
Doctors say liposurfomas appear benign. Options include observation, padding inside a wetsuit, liposuction, or surgical removal, although they can persist or recur if the repetitive trauma continues.
Still, any unexplained or changing chest mass deserves professional medical evaluation rather than a self-diagnosis from the lineup.
So, we have to ask: Have you experienced this?
Are you, too, a surfer with four breasts? No judgement here. This is a safe space.
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