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Do you have Pectus Excavatum

Yes, Male 0.11764705882353 11.8% [ 6 ]
Yes, Female 0.07843137254902 7.8% [ 4 ]
No 0.80392156862745 80.4% [ 41 ]
Total Votes:[ 51 ]
1

Okay, so you are maybe wondering what those two stange words are pectus excavatum , well it basically means 'hollow chest' or a concave chest. This is a a genetic deformaty that results in the malformation of the Sturnum, or the center bone of the chest.


My little story/blurb: I am a 17 year old girl and I think my 'pectus excavatum is more on the mild side. I have always had a little dent in my chest since I was little but it was nothing severe. However, in the past few years, puberty onward, I have noticed my chest getting deeper and deeper. I personally believe that being a female I was not so quick to catch on to my problem because the fact that I have boobs somewhat masks it. This may sound a little stupid but I htough my chest was silly looking because I have a slender build, slightly taller than average and thin = small boobs = silly looking chest. However, over the years I began to realize that perhaps my chest looks silly not becasue of my breast size but because of the 'hole' in my chest.
Apart from having a silly chest I also have asthma. I occasionally experience chest pains on the left side and shortness of breath that I had attributed over the years to my asthma and tight muscle (avid side sleeper on my left.)



I mainly created this little thread because I would like to talk to other like me who have dumb looking chests. I want to know what are you doing to cope with it, what are your medical 'side effects' associated with the condition (i.e Heart problems, asthma, lung problems), have you had or plan to have corrective surgery . . . etc.

Pics:
User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show.User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show. <--- lol, look at the face.

User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show. <---How it is surgically corrected Video

User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show. <---Like what I have, only I have boobs.



Here are some links to information sites:

Quick info video-blurb-thing

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pectus_excavatum

http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1004953-overview

http://www.pectusinfo.com/ <--- lol, looks lame but has good info.

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003320.htm









P.S. this is cap_gun_girl's mule account.

Dapper Elder

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I'd say go for corrective surgery when you're old enough, it would probably do wonders for the health problems, and would boost self esteem.
That looks hard to live with!
You must be popular in beer pong!
stare sweatdrop heart
Blanket B E A S T, I too suffer from PE. I'm 22, male. Its taken me a long time to get comfortable in my own skin. My case is on the severe side but it's a great cup holder or cereal bowl when necessary. pirate Occasionally I've had chest pain and wasn't able to play sports or other such activities like the other boys but because of my experiences I've learned part of life is playing to your strengths, and in the end looks don't matter. Who you are inside is what matters.
I'm nineteen and I have mild PE (to my knowledge it is mild, hasnt been checked in years and years). I also have asthma. And I'm also pregnant. It's never really bothered me before to have it. Other than when it was hard to breathe and when I got pregnant. I havent minded the dent much though.

Actually, I used to say it made my breasts look bigger and more clevage. xp

Only a few people have really seen it on me, and actually noticed.

Shameless Fatcat

I know a guy with that. He's never spoken about any health issues, but the likes to freak people out by eating cereal out of his chest-dent, milk and all.
Masturbating_Rot_Crow
I know a guy with that. He's never spoken about any health issues, but the likes to freak people out by eating cereal out of his chest-dent, milk and all.


That is rather funny . . . The main reason I posted this was becasue over the last year and a bit I have been developing chest pains, and I was just wondering if that was normal or not and whethter I should motor on down to the hospital to get it checked out.
My ex boyfriend had that.

It didn't really make a difference to me, and you could only see it if he had his shirt off.

I think the problem he had was that if someone hit him in the right place it could really damage him.
See your doctor for the chest pains. Sunken chest can cause pain, but it can be associated with heart issues like mitral valve prolapse or marfan syndrome, which can be fatal if undiagnosed.
My son, now 17, was sent to a cardiologist 3 years ago for chest pains during workouts. The doctor noticed that he was tall, thin, and measured his armspan as too long for his height (he also has high arches, and a highly arched upper pallet).
Because his eyes are fine and his echocardiogram showed as normal (although 'high normal' which means we go back every year to check it), the doctors have said he does not have marfan, but has 'marfan-like traits.'
He had to back off his sports (he was swimming competitively year-round) but still participates at a lesser level. And now we KNOW his heart is okay, even if he gets occasional pain.
Don't take a chance with your heart and don't think just because you're young there's no danger. There are a lot of lucky young people that discovered abnormalities that could and probably would have killed them had they gone undiagnosed.
I have a concave chest, and i thoroughly enjoy it, actually. one of my favourite features about myself. Maybe i'm weird, but i've never been shy about it at all.

Versatile Dabbler

I've actually never heard of this before. (I secretly live under a rock.) The only thing that I'd be worried about is the health implications, since your vital organs are actually being pushed aside. That sounds painful. :/
User Image
[ My boyfriend has this, actually.
He's decently self-conscious about it, but it doesn't keep him from
going around shirtless.

I actually quite enjoy it 'cause it's a great place to my head. biggrin
And he oftentimes puts food there whenever he's laying somewhere
so that it won't roll away. It's kind of cute, actually.

Anyways, he's thought about getting the surgery, the one where
they just push the bones back in place, but he thinks he's getting a
little too old and that his bones are getting too rigid for it. And he
doesn't want to get the one where they break the bones and reformat
them simply because the recovery time is rather long.

I keep telling him to fix it because if it causes issues now,
then in the future, it could cause much more serious problems.
]

User Image

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