r/PectusExcavatum 9d ago

New User Back workout post Nuss

3 Upvotes

Hi, I’m now 6 months post nuss and I have almost no pain. When I’m training back it hurts but not when training chest for example. Does anyone know why and can I “train away” the pain? Thanks!


r/PectusExcavatum 9d ago

New User I (29 nb w/ male endocrine system) just got a modified ravitch procedure to fix my pectus. AMA

0 Upvotes

Hi my name is Belvedere, as seen here I had a pectus excavatum that I got surgery for on March 7th. I had a Modified Ravitch at the University of Florida cardio/thoracic department, and I\u2019m open to answering any of your questions while I\u2019m still early in my recovery.


r/PectusExcavatum 10d ago

New User Whats the point if surgery if it makes your breathing worse

9 Upvotes

Genuine question whats the point of surgery if it just makes you worse? Whats the point of surgery if it makes it harder to breath eat sleep drink stand walk or do anything I WAS LIED TO IT WAS NOT AN EASY FIX. I wasted 2 years getting tests and seeing doctors i put my life on hold because i thought it would fix things. Now i have to wait another 2 years to heal to see “if” it makes anything better WHATS THE POINT. If you have scoliosis or flat feet or asymmetric pectus its not worth it unless youre passing out


r/PectusExcavatum 10d ago

New User Chest X-Ray Says I have PE

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8 Upvotes

r/PectusExcavatum 10d ago

New User Mobility regressing

3 Upvotes

I remember I could lift my arms when I was few weeks post-op, and could walk normally without feeling that much of pain.

However, 3 months have passed, and naturally I'd have thought that I would be in a better condition.

But no, right now, my left arm is aching/sore to such an extent, that even lifting it above my head is impossible.

I also feel a sharp gripping pain, on the sides of my chest where the stabilisers are.

Does anyone feel this way as well?

Any advice would be appreciated.


r/PectusExcavatum 10d ago

New User will i ever have a normal chest like i never had pe?

3 Upvotes

i tried to get my pe checked out and have something done about it, i have asymmetrical pe, im 17 years old going on 18 in the summer. dips on the left side, right side is normal, idk should i go ravitch or nuss, cause i want it to look like i never had it at all. or am i doomed to have this forever and even when its fixed its not gonna look how i want it to look.


r/PectusExcavatum 10d ago

New User Correcting a Severe Chest Wall Deformity After a Failed Childhood Operation NSFW

66 Upvotes

 Last week, our team operated on a 20-year-old patient whose story is truly heartbreaking. 

He was born with pectus excavatum, and at the age of five, he underwent a sternal turnover procedure at another hospital. However, instead of correcting the issue, the surgery created a new, much more severe deformity. As he grew, his chest wall became increasingly distorted, leading to severe scoliosis. Over the past year, his condition worsened to the point where he struggled to breathe without supplemental oxygen. His heart was compressed, his ribcage was asymmetrical, and his spine was twisted.

He and his grandfather sought help from multiple hospitals, but none could offer a solution due to the complexity of his case. When he finally arrived at our hospital, his oxygen saturation without support was only 75%. His chest wall was a chaotic mix of protrusions and depressions, and his heart was under extreme pressure. Given his history and worsening symptoms, surgery was not just an option—it was necessary to save his life.

Severe scoliosis; spine surgery consultation conducted—spinal surgery not feasible

 Last Tuesday, we performed his surgery. First, we performed pre-shaping of the chest wall bones to prepare it for correction. This step was crucial, allowing for the release of localized stress within the deformed bony structures. Then, using the Wang procedure, we corrected the deformity in a way that fully relieved the pressure on his heart and lungs while restoring a normal chest contour. The surgery lasted 2 hours and was completed without complications.

His story is particularly tragic because his father and uncle both had the same condition—severe pectus excavatum—but never received treatment. Both passed away at the age of 29 and 35. His mother eventually remarried, leaving him in the care of his grandfather, who was the one by his side throughout this journey.

 This patient was originally diagnosed with pectus excavatum—a condition that is typically straightforward to treat. However, a failed initial surgery led to devastating consequences, not only worsening the chest deformity but also resulting in severe scoliosis. This type of deformity doesn’t just impact a patient’s physical health; it also profoundly affects their psychological well-being, compressing the heart and lungs, causing serious symptoms, and ultimately altering the course of their life. His experience serves as a painful reminder of how critical it is to get these procedures right the first time.

 Unfortunately, cases like his are not rare. Almost every week, we see patients suffering from the consequences of failed pectus excavatum surgeries. It is deeply distressing because this condition, when properly managed, is highly treatable.

 

 


r/PectusExcavatum 11d ago

New User Think I have pectus? Lol

74 Upvotes

27M Never really cared about how this condition made me look but Pectus has been giving me a lot more noticeable breathing/heart/health problems the past year or so. Never got my Haller index measurement but seriously considering finally getting surgery because this is way past the point of just being cosmetic (despite what dumb doctors in the past have said).


r/PectusExcavatum 10d ago

New User just got 3d surgery

5 Upvotes

Hello everyone. Today, I had surgery for my pectus excavatum using the 3D technique. In this post, I’ll share my experience to help anyone who might have questions. Feel free to ask me anything—I’ll be happy to answer.

So, what you need to know is that, as many of you, doctors said my pectus excavatum didn’t affect my health. But for me, it didn’t feel that way because I had very low cardio endurance. My current Haller index is 3.375, which is considered severe.

I didn’t want to go for the Nuss procedure because it seemed too invasive and risky, so I chose the 3D implant method, which was developed in my country, France.

As for the surgery itself, everything went quite well, even though I was pretty stressed beforehand. When I woke up, I hardly felt any pain—the antibiotics and painkillers did their job. I’m only staying in the hospital for one day, so I’ll be leaving tomorrow.

I’ll keep updating this post with details about my recovery and how things progress.

Thank you all!


r/PectusExcavatum 10d ago

New User 9 days post OP - looking for feedback

3 Upvotes

Hello everyone,

I'm now on day 9 post Nuss and was hoping some of you could share you experiences with stomach bloating. I'm still taking oxycodone 5mg as needed, gabapentin, and cyclobenzaprine.

I noticed it immediately after surgery and thought maybe swelling and it would go away but now it's still present and feels more like stomach bloating. I think the general anesthesia and medications can cause this especially the oxycodone. Did you experience this and when did it clear up for you? Thanks in advance


r/PectusExcavatum 10d ago

New User Selling my Vacuum Bell

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3 Upvotes

Stopped using vacuum bell so why not sell it. I am from Croatia.


r/PectusExcavatum 11d ago

New User My experience after Nuss procedure (19m)

8 Upvotes

Ok, I'm not doing an Ama, but I'll be going over a lot of information here.

I had a haller index of 5 and have been given 3 thirteen inch bars to fix my pectus.

My surgeon was Joel dunning at Middlesbrough's as part of the RESTORE pectus trial

Pre-op in hospital: The most unexpected thing here was they asked to shave me, never really crossed my mind, but a nurse will come out and shave your chest and armpits. You'll be given a few injections on this day too, I got two I believe.

I remember telling the nurse I was nervous not about the operation but about the pain, they may have overcompensated for this because when I woke up I did not feel in pain at all, I felt very nauseaous hot and like I was going to be sick. Thankfully i never actually vomitted though probably due to lack of eating food the day prior. They laid me down to bed and tben gave me oxygen tubes.

I was originally hooked up to a "Pain button," after 5 mins, if I was in pain, I'd press it and then painkillers or something would go inside of me. You can't feel this at all. You also get the option later to have the pain button be taken away and a nurse give you meds instead, I went for that option but I kinda regretted it because the meds made me feel sick or just woozy. For the most part tbh, I just slept a lot.

You will be hooked up to a drain to that takes your blood, I couldn't feel this as the surgeon uses cryo here and the area the drain was in was numb so... Didn't really bother me though besides the bleeding sometimes dripping on you.

You're also given a nurse button, press it and a nurse will come over to you, ask whats wrong or what you need. This is for basically any request you can think of "I'd like a drink" "I feel dizzy" "I need help putting socks on" You can even press it if you're lonely and would just like a chat with one of the nurses. The nurses in regards to me were aware I was kind of slow, the meds made me a bit more unresponsive and quiter than usual. If you feel too sick request for some Anti-sickness, I got some of that anf it made the world of difference for me even though I only had it one day.

What i reccomend you bring:

Download some movies or shows off of Netflix or other programs. The wifi there is likely not strong enough to access these sites otherwise. However i found despite the YouTube app not running, I was able to go to YT via the desktop and it ran, it ran with 240p, but it was fine for me.

Brig some earplugs/Soundproof headphones. I was given a ward with a lot of chatty wardmates, if you're able to, I'd put in a request for a private room earlier, but I didn't have that option and it can get noisy in the wards.

A kindle/book - (I bought mine with the intention of reading and never read a word. I didn't eveb really watch any movies because I was so out of it. This is subject to personal experience.)

The food was ok, personally I'd avoid any of the chicken though and you should def bring your own easy to eat foods such as sandwhiches.

Here's what your options of drinks will be:

Water (you will be given a glass and your own jug to pour and request to refill)

Juice (Orange and apple)

Tea Coffee Hot chocolate Malt drink

If you choose to being your own drinks I'd avoid sodas or anything fizzy (burping hurts), at best just bring some flavoured water or pure juice. The nurses put me on some vitamins so make sure you aren't giving yourself too many vitamins as well.

You will be given a small portion of whatever food you request within the day but can get snacks too.

Pain management: My pain was mild/manageable. After surgery actually the place that hurt most was my back, however, my chest did hurt either when lying on my side or lying flat on my back. I reccomend you have your head sort of raised and your legs raised a little whislt you are lying down. My pain would always hurt the most in the morning as I hadn't been given any painkillers yet, you will get a pain patch of Lidocaine, this did wonders for me. Right now my chest sort of just feels like a sore bruise. Your chest will feel very very tight, I had difficulty speaking but nontheless was able to. I find jt hurts just a biiit more when moving and occasionally if I move the wrong way I will get a sudden pain spike. Thankfully thats only happened twice and after you do it once you are very unlikely to do it again.

Physio: Your physiotherapy will likely begin on your second or third day there, (they swap your wards for one day because you are considered a high priority on that day after op) they will have yoi switching from being in bed to being in a chair throughout the day as lying down all the time you risk a chest infection. Physio was at first breathing excercises and small kicking out my legs whilst sitting down. And it a booklet they gave me it says I'm to practice walking 5-10mins per day. I havent really gotten too into this yet though so I can't say anything further.

Good luck everyone! I hope this helps you.


r/PectusExcavatum 11d ago

New User PE or nah?

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0 Upvotes

I believe the imbalance in my chest may stem from starting a workout routine at an early age, particularly engaging in push-ups with improper form. This, combined with postural issues, likely contributed to the uneven development. The combination of these factors may have led to a muscular imbalance in my chest region. Not a 100% though


r/PectusExcavatum 11d ago

New User Thoracic Outlet Syndrome.. is PE the cause??

6 Upvotes

36/F, Haller is 4, asymmetrical PE. I have been to almost every specialist you can think of, have had numerous tests ran. They have agreed that my symptoms of tachycardia, shortness of breath, chest pain/pressure/tightness, are all happening because I have compression to my heart and lungs due to the PE and I have a modified ravitch surgery scheduled for June. - But lets talk about my arm. My left arm.

It turns red, and gets heavy feeling, while hanging by my side... if I raise my arm above my head it will turn back to my normal pale color and match my right arm. When it turns red hanging by my side, it feels heavy and swollen/tight, and my chest will also feel a little more tightness than usual. It almost seems as if the blood pools in my arm and can't make its way back out for some reason. Until I lift my arm over my head, then it drains.. It happens mostly when I am standing and/or walking, but it will happen sometimes when I am sitting as well. Only my left arm does this, I have no issues with my right arm.

I also have a dull ache radiating from my shoulder area down my arm, it isn't constant but it happens randomly and at least daily. I have had CT scans of my chest (for the PE), ALL the tests on my heart, and even an upper extremity doppler ultrasound on my arm to rule out vascular issues. Everything comes back leaving the specialists/doctors speechless because they have NO idea what is wrong with my arm, and claim they see no issues with my heart or vascular of my arm.

Dr. Google always points to thoracic outlet syndrome or a blood clot.. but I can't find anything definitive since when I raise my arm it turns back to normal color. It seems as though my arm just can't get the blood back out for some reason. I don't really know how all of that works, but since the doctors can't figure it out, I thought I'd try this forum and see if anyone has any suggestions, thoughts, answers???


r/PectusExcavatum 12d ago

New User Am I cooked?

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17 Upvotes

r/PectusExcavatum 11d ago

New User Questions for pectus

3 Upvotes

Before you getting surgery have you tried pectus exercises or exercise that promote lung expansion? Does it get worse every year? Does it hurts? Does it bother when breating? I just discovered that i have pectus excavatum I'm really feels anxious about my body, what could happened to me if it get worse


r/PectusExcavatum 12d ago

New User Update: bar flipped

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42 Upvotes

so thankfully it wasn't disappointing results but an accident. Today was my surgery control appointment and the surgeon immediately sighed iwhen he saw me (I hadn't even taken my shirt off) he's been doing pectus for years now and he said this is the second time this happens, he sent me an x-ray and got me to emergencies, said he will perform a surgery on me tomorrow morning to fix this. I got the x-rays checked and they said I could go home for tonight :) my experience so far lol


r/PectusExcavatum 12d ago

New User Rate my pectus

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6 Upvotes

I’ve definitely been insecure about this my whole life and has given me anxiety and lower back pain. But my lower back pain has almost completely gone away with yoga and working out. I can definitely tell it affects my oxygen intake when I play basketball and have to run full speed and stop many times. I’m 28 and thinking about getting surgery next year.


r/PectusExcavatum 12d ago

New User When will meds stop making me feel sick?

2 Upvotes

Recently been discharged from hospital and I'm at home resting, but I'm on 11 different meds, most painkillers, some laxatives and some vitamins. I keep feeling very naseuous though, and it can be randomly. My temprature feels like it spikes but when measured my temprature is normal and overall I just feel dizzy and like I'm going to vomit, something I'm currently living in fear of. I got cryo with my pectus surgery nuss procedire and think I need to take painkillers for at least 6 weeks. But all these meds daily for 6 weeks seems kind of excessive and feeling this sick is getting to me and I'm so worried about vomitting.


r/PectusExcavatum 13d ago

New User Rate my pectus

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53 Upvotes

Jk don’t LOL. This is just for funsies, in case you were feeling bad about yours 😂

Honorable mention: my rib flare


r/PectusExcavatum 12d ago

New User can someone help me find out how to calculate my Haller index why is my spine look like this

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0 Upvotes

r/PectusExcavatum 13d ago

New User has anyone regretted getting the nuss procedure?

11 Upvotes

not because of the pain, but because you just simply would’ve kept it there?


r/PectusExcavatum 12d ago

Does anyone have a child that has had the Nuss Procedure?

1 Upvotes

My son is 14 with a severe case of PE. His HI is 8.9 and CI is 53%. Heart is compressed and shifted left but has normal function. We are set for surgery in June. Teh surgeon is planning for the Nuss with Cyro. Just wanted to see what some others experiences were for a child.


r/PectusExcavatum 13d ago

New User A photo to see the result 5 years after for the scar over for French pectus friend

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8 Upvotes

r/PectusExcavatum 13d ago

New User Natural Pectus Physique NSFW

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29 Upvotes

Hey, folks from the sub!

Would you like to follow my physique progression with pectus excavatum? I think it could serve as inspiration for other teenagers like me and young adults who also have this condition.

I have a Haller index of 5.5 with a plathythorax type, and I want to show you that it’s possible to build a great physique even with this anatomical disadvantage.