Life With Pectus Excavatum 

I eat cereal out of my chest

My dad and I have this. Not severe, don't need surgery. But it is awesome. It's something we both share and it's just ours.

I have this condition now for 24 years and hoping one day to fix it 🥺♥️if anyone else is suffering from this curse,stay strong we will push trough

As someone in elite football, I feel like I'm always a step behind the others because I can't catch my breath and can never achieve a desired level of fitness. It's so frustrating and embarrassing for me as a sportswoman, particularly when it rains and my jersey sticks to my chest. I feel like I can't concentrate on the game because I'm self-conscious that someone will notice. Don't even get me started on swimwear. I hope that with the Nuss surgery I'm due to have in a few months, not only will I become more self-confident in my appearance, but it will enable me to go further in soccer.

I had this procedure done when I was younger as an “emergency operation”. Went well, still doing well, happy with my chest. :)

Finally I searched about my chest and I find out I am not the only guy having such type of disorder and felling happy and trying to cure it

I’ve always had this, my mom and sister also have it, i have flared ribs and am quite self conscious about it, but it’s nice to know we aren’t the only ones who have this

I have pectus but it is extremely mild.

Getting this surgery done tomorrow so wish me luck and kinda nervous but just wanna get it over with

I have this to a small degree. It doesn’t affect my breathing or health. But it is a bit painful to sleep on my side. The pressure goes to my chest front and it hurts

Good luck to all who get surgery. Hope you find what you're looking for.

I've had a mild to moderate form of this since childhood. I often have had bouts of shortness of breath, and my docs have always said there is nothing wrong with me and that its psychological. Perhaps it's not simply anxiety though, but rather, my pectus affecting my lungs. Make sense since the ribs are pressed inward against the lungs, seemingly preventing them from expanding as much as they would otherwise.

Ay yo pectavus gang here yall at!!!! Ik it can be embarrassing to go swimming or ppl make fun of u in the changing rooms but we're all in this together!!

I was born with Pectus Excavatum. Its really cool because i have a school project on it for my grade. Although everyday i have to sit in sick bay for an hour or two to catch my breath (I have to run some tests to see when the surgery will need to take place)

Idk why, I've always felt cool with this. I was different then other's. But at the same time my physical abilities are limited, never doing sports and barley doing outside activities, despite trying to brake my limits, and not being able to. I always thought I was just lazy cuz I didn't want to blame it on this "disability". I've had symptoms since I was a very young, I can't imagine doing sports and having an active childhood and suddenly not be able to. I feel bad for those who where able to do all these activities and suddenly not be able to.

Is this a safe option for rulers danlos patients?

Having this coupled with costocondritis absolutely sucks. My chest pain was so severe when I was younger it literally led to a 10 year battle with opiate addiction that destroyed my entire life.

I have it but I can't do anything because it's not severe enough

I have mild PE with obvious rib flares inherited from my father. It seems to show a dominant inheritance pattern in my family. Being a geneticist myself, I am so nervous about passing it on to my kids in the future. I am so hesitant if I should have kids.

I’ve straight up just started looking into this at 23. Haven’t been able to touch my chest with my bare hand until about a year ago. Never realized it was as common as it is. Edit: I have by no means a bad case and it’s never limited me but i still despise how i look.

i have this. I was diagnosed years before this video. My doctor had been working with pectus excavatum for over 20 years and he claimed i had the most severe case he had ever seen. Ive had 2 surgeries and still have a "chest hole" to show for my lifetime of pain. not many people are aware this even exists

my life be going so fine then boom, cereal bowl appears D:

Mine is like that and I workout relentless need to find now how to get it fixed

It never got in my way and I never go bullied cause of it, but I hate having this condition. I wish there was a simple fix to it 😕.

I have been considering this option for a while now. I’m 25, hopefully once everything goes back to normal I’ll get it done.

I have it fairly badly like at 1:16, I’ve never had mental problems with it but it’s been hard to breathe sometimes

what's interesting is i have it and its big, but somehow in high school i've always been in the top runners, so it didn't seem to affect my cardio that much

Does Pectus excavatum cause belly fat??

After surgery I can do chest workout

I wasn't properly diagnosed until recently. I always thought it was asthma. I can't exercise for more than 20 seconds without feeling like a ran a marathon. I have no stamina whatsoever and even doing basic household chores is a struggle

im 16, i have been getting xrays done on my chest. no word on anything else.

I am doing work outs to improve it. I feel no symptoms from it. When I was younger the doctor said I didn't need surgery

Wow this is interesting. My daughter 12 has this and it seems to be getting worse. She’s had big circulatory issues for a while. Lips blue and blue extremities. I’m now thinking it could be linked to the PE

i just found out that i have pectus the one boys chest looks a lot like mine

Surgery isn't the only way to treat it. There's a thing called a vacuum bell, it's a new treatment not prescribed much yet, but it's basically just a giant suction cup. Used for a long period of time, it can actually improve the condition.

I have that chest problem

Why am i developing this at 22 years of age? I noticed a small dent on my chest one morning. When i never had this before even back when i was a kid.

I want the surgery but I’m conflicted on the surgery or football 🤦‍♂️ I can’t decide

I’ve done exercises and I’m building muscle around the pecs, so it’s not so visible anymore. But if I got the nuss bar, would I be able to go back to exercising afterwards?

I cried when I got to know my self I am suffering from pectus excvatum I got to know finally I am not suffering from heart problem but suffering from pectus....it becomes difficult at times for me to breath properly...many a times I went to doctors they didn't tell me about pectus instead said I have no heart disease ....but problem in my breathing is pectus.....I don't know where and how I will get the treatment 😔😥....🥺

Idk if its this i have, but i have a dent on my chest that made my lungs also smaller. Might also have the other pectus thing or my stomach is just very small, underweight by idk atleast 10kg.

I have a severe case. 6.8 on the Haller Index. No one really knew when I was younger because girls dont have exams until their mid to late teens. I had no idea it was a 'thing' until I was an adult after being diagnosed with NSCLC (non small cell lung cancer as a non smoker). I had an upper left lobectomy and my heart completely shifted into my left chest causing even more issues. Now that Im 50, I am struggling even more to breath and looking into having this surgery as an adult. I wanted to wait until I was out of the cancer window at 5 years which is coming up. Anyone have surgery this late in life?

I wish I could do mine. Insurance won’t pay because apparently it’s not bad enough.

I've had the surgery about 3 years ago now, and even though I'm not completely satisfied with the results, there is still a major improvement. I now have a scar on my chest which looks like a shark bite. I love it! I'm not really sure what my surgical procedure was called though. I can never find it on the internet.

exellent information .. hugs from Perú

Wow!!! I want this!!!

I have mild pectus excavatum. Luckily you cant see it through my shirt. I am trying to do excersises that help my chest muscles.

I have pectus but I have 120% of lung capacity for my age and suffer from no physical problems

i have it on one side where it sticks out a couple centimetres, none of my friends know because i hide it , i go out in public and swim but try to hide it by crossing my arms before i get in the water . I’m super insecure about it. i’ve heard working out can fix with this type of stuff. help

Does anyone have chest pain ? I have had this my whole life and just the past year have been having chest pain in the left side of the chest.

I am 15 and I have pectus.I'm pretty scared of surgerys.I think I will get the surgery done soon.Wish me luck. (Edit: I'm 19 now and I didn't get it, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't, your choice and consult with the doctor too)

I have pectus and I can see it getting worse as time goes on. Its causing me great discomfort and I cant get surgery for it because its apparently cosmetic. It's metally draining and I absolutely hate it, I can't look in a mirror anymore

I am on my journey to start getting my pectus fixed. I am excited to breath without the pain that I have now. The surgery is scary to me but I know that it will improve my quality of life.

I have PE but I would be so scared for surgery. Thankfully my chest depression is mild

I am 22 years old, I have had a pectus excavatum since childhood, pain in the heart area began about a year ago, arrhythmias, rapid heartbeat, and all this even without physical activity at rest. I am suffering, I went to all the doctors and they all told me that my heart and organs are healthy and there is no pathology, adding that my pectus excavatum also does not affect the pain. I’m tired of enduring and now I’m preparing for the Nuss operation, in the hope that this will help.

¿cost?

I love my cup holder/popcorn catcher.

I'm suffering Pectus excavatum but I'm happy and living normal life with no physical or medical issue 🙃 and will live my life taking it as a normal thing . But want to start gym if something could get better

I’m in the hospital Rn I was supposed to research about it before surgery and now I just clicked the first video on RU-vid about it

For the people that have it and it doesnt affect your heart,be grateful!

I’m getting surgery for this in a couple months I’m pretty scared

My friend has pectus and I thought it was really cool

I dont have that much pectus exvancentum but i want to Fix it

I have this and get sharp chest pain during exercise and shortness of breath

I have it too it doesn't affect my physicaly but I think I need the surgery makes a very good drinks holder too

Do you need to have the bar in there forever or do they remove it someday?

I am 36 and thinking of surgery, i know there are complications at older ages. Anyone here had surgery in 30s? I don't have any significant loss if breath or anything, perfectly healthy, just wondering if it would improve my breathing also only thing, time to time get back pains, just afraid it get worsens when I get older

Yeah I did the operation. The doc placed the bar and locked it in place with a small metal bar on some other ribs. It broke the other ribs. Fixed the probleme at like 35%, broke a couple of ribs. In the end, some 15 years later, I think simply working out and building up muscles would have given me far better results. It also affected very badly my lungs. I now have poor respiration, it's not so bad, but it is bad.

How much cost ot surjery

Those of you that have this, What was your diet like growing up? Mine was mainly sweets and candy

Mine is upper chest. I have yet to find anyone with a pectus excavatum like mine. As a man, it's embarrassing. But this is the body I've been given

is it becomes normal through practice and exercise ?? please any one answer me 2- can it be the reason for some disorders?? ( heart diseases, breathing, tiredness)?? is surgery is mandatory??? i an 17 years old , is it becomes scary day by day as i grow up ??

Is this surgery only intended to be performed on kids and teenagers? I'm a 30 year-old male with this condition. Thank you.

How long is the recovery time

do they remove the bar later?

I have pectus (I think moderate) will it hurt or kill me in my adulthood?

Kinda sucks that i always get tired so easily in P.E class, no wonder why my grade for P.E is always 85-90

ciao, ci sono italiani con lo stesso problemaaaa? mi sento solo!!

I feel pain when I try to sleep in left position

I've got about two inches indent on my left side, at 33 its never stopped me from performing athletically. Sure it hurts sometimes, but whatever, we each have something. No girlfriend has ever cared, if anything it has invoked their nurturing response.

For me it only really hurts is 1. The hiccups; I'm like "*hiccup*, ow" 2. Random sharp pains 3. Just a little bit when I think about it This is just about all that happens, it not as bad as it is for others.

I knew the actual hole in my chest might have been a problem but I never thought about it or even considered what it was because it really didn’t effect me, my friends just thought it was funny and the breathing problems weren’t as bad for me and still aren’t so I just left it

Maybe this is the reason I can barely take a deep breathe

I'm in the UK bc I am I don't have medical Ensurance like Americans do. Also I heard the surgery cost quite a lot and my family isn't the wealthiest

I don’t have it severely like that but I just have a dent

yo necesito eso

I have pectus too but that don't give me a reason to put a metal in my chest

Ohh.. my 7yr old son will gonna have it 3 month's later... I just hope and pray that everything WILL going to be fine.. the hardest part for me as a mom is looking at your child who looks at u, smile and hug u, and he doesn't have any idea what is going to come for him few months later...😭😭😭 às à mom I'm really afraid for my little boy...😭😭😭

Feel like I'd be more willing to undergo the procedure if the metal bar would dissolve overtime. Hear you can get it removed later, but it doesn't sound like they want too.

Does it help with rib flare? I have pectus excavatun but also a big rib flare

Never do surgery unless its life threatening! These procedures have side affects, sometimes permanent. I suggest researching the Vacuum Bell if you're serious about "fixing" your condition...

I have it too bit it ain't that bad

At this point, I am really annoyed with my doctors from when I was a kid until now. My family and I asked about this from the time I was young throughout my teens and into my early 20s. Every doctor I had said that there was not much that could be done to help this process. I could not do well in sports and was embarrassed (still am to some extent), I have had breathing problems since I was a kid. 10 years or so ago I had Blood Clots and I had a Pulmonary Embolism in 2020. The cardiologist who took the PE clots out of me asked me why I never fixed the Pectus issue. He said my blood flow would be better as well as my breathing. I am 52 now and thought that he was kidding when he recommended that we should explore options to have this fixed. He said that there would be massive pain at my age to do this but it could add 5-10 years of life. He also said that because of my clotting issues, I may not be a good candidate but he still wants to explore the option.

im from the philippines and yes i have also a pectus excavatum, unfortunately we dont have a surgeon here who is expert to conduct this kind of operation :(

I am from India. I don't know where and what the cost of this surgery is. Please suggest me if anyone from India had done this surgery.

I have pectus carinatum which is basically the opposite (my chest sticks out) but I'm pretty sure this is worse.

I have had a sunken chest for years with Bo harm more than get bullied a little.

i have this. I can do sports and exercise normally. I run a 1.5 miles in 15 mins and i dont get exhausted. I go to the gym regulary and Im fine with it. I show it tho all people and they call me Iron Man love it

I can hardly breathe when laying down flat, it ha sbeen getting better but still hard

I also have this but i doesn't effect anything. As i read through these comments i kinda feel bad for people who have it in a severe way...