I have been using the vacuum bell for a couple days and I can feel the difference but the left side of my sternum seems to poke out more than the right is this normal? Will this asymmetry likely fix itself, or is this most likely a natural assymetry with either my ribcage or sternum.

I usually smoke every other day and I'm just curious if I'm still able to smoke cannabis or consume cannabis. Is it usually okay to smoke until the last 3 days before my surgery? And also I am curious if I should let my anesthesiologist know when I do see him. Another question is when do I see my anesthesiologist because my surgery is in 2 months and I still haven't seen him yet. For more context I also have an allergy test and blood test I have to do before the surgery.

I read alot about Cryo and these back things that inject into nerves (blanking on the name sorry). But I have also seen alot of people having pain problems with these things. I did not have any special kind of relief except Alprazolam directly after surgery and 15mg Endone (Oxycodone) for the 6 days I was in hospital. After leaving hospital I was on Panadol.

Yes the first week I felt like I had been hit by a truck but honestly after that it wasn’t terrible and I slowly worked my way back to working full time after 2 months. I had a moderately severe case although I am young (19). Anyone else out there go through recovery with nothing more than some light painkillers?

I believe you should opt to go without nerve treatment for pain as it can have lasting effects, if you believe you can handle the pain. It is unbearable at times but honestly after the first week you feel remarkably better, and week after week that feeling continues and it’s very rewarding to go through that and learn how lucky you are to have the health you have.

It’s not the best photo, but just really curious if this could be pectus.

Unnecessary back story: My nephew has Pectus. I am the one that noticed it. We were at a cousins pool party and I saw the indent. It was VERY noticeable and was confused why no one had ever said anything about it before. Him and my sister just sort of brushed it off. Couple days later we are watching the Olympics and they start talking about the USA swimmer that has it. I immediately texted and told her she should at least take him somewhere to be looked at. Turns out he had one of the more sever cases and had to get surgery. My mil noticed it in a picture we sent her one night and my mind immediately went to pectus. I’ve been noticing it more but not sure if I’m being overly worried for nothing.

My brother (23M) just got the nuss procedure with cryo at WakeMed with doctor Maier. They discharged him within 2 days and we brought him home. He was doing really well in the hospital on Keterolac and occasional Dialudid. However he has been having excruciating pain at home and we haven't been able to figure out a proper pain management system for him. He says his pain spikes to a 9/10 right in the middle of his sternum. They gave us oxycodone, torodol, celebrex, cyclobenzaprine, and told us to regularly give him advil or tylenol. does anyone have a pain management system or medicine system that worked well for them that they can share? I really hope it gets better for him. It's tough to see him in excruciating pain :(

He has many years of experience and I feel comfortable but would also like to hear others’ experiences.

Bonjour,

Just for the general knowledge of this international community, wanted to share my French Nuss experience.

1. Nuss specialists Desert : Took me 20 years to decide with ZERO proper advice until a couple of lung infections as well as tachycardia, plus a family background worsening with aging, made me think it really through. On my own.

2. Not where you think he'd be : Stumbled upon one press article about a surgeon performing ×pectus up× down south after having unsuccessfully looked for a specialist in a small city called...Paris...capital of France.

3. Convinced : met with this very convincing guy. Performs pectus surgery quite often but...actually a specialist of cancer treatment. Considers PE pathology with commitment but also describe it as **bodywork compared to the other much more serious cancer cases he deals with (which is true though). Was not told that I would not be able to look after my kids for 4/5 weeks and would need my mother for 10 days as if I were the kid.

4. Happy to be French: health care completely covers for the surgery and painkillers. The surgeon adapts its bill. Generous country (way too much).

5. Would rather be American : no cryo available. Unadapted painkillers given after hopital clearance because my surgeon was gone. Absolutely no PT protocol. Absolutely no PT around who does not open what the heck wide eyes when looking at my X Ray. As a result, recovery is probably not at its best.

6. Thanks insomnia : discovered this reddit community during nights of pain and insomnia. Thinking about all my fellow bad-at-foreign languages PE countrymen, deprived of information. For those who do read English, happy to share.

Merci à tous !

Edit: tl;dr because this got way too long: my son (17) hiked 13 miles of the Appalachian Trail in North Carolina with a 30 lb pack 6 months after his third Nuss. The rest of it is about how important it is to go to the absolute best surgeon you can.

Some of y'all know my son's story--he got Nussed at 15, HI was 7.4, the bar flipped 10 days later, they replaced it with another bar, and then he had another serious complication that takes too long to explain. Eight months after the second Nuss, it was decided the bar needed to be removed but it wasn't replaced even though there was obvious regression right away. A cardiac MRI done several weeks later revealed his HI to be 6.7.

So obviously he had to have yet another Nuss, and it was performed this past July by Dr. Rebeccah Brown at Cincinnati Children's. She and her team (and, seriously, everyone at Children's) were absolutely phenomenal. (fyi, she does patients up to age 35, and I also wanted to mention she is one of not very many surgeons in the U.S. who does redos in case anyone finds themselves needing one.)

His recovery has been remarkable even though it was his fourth surgery in a little over a year and it took over 9 hours because of the adhesions that had formed due to the previous surgeries. He had very little pain afterward. He was off of all pain meds within a couple of weeks. After that he took advil every once in a while for soreness if he exerted himself too much.

Anyway, a while back he started training for a long and rigorous backpacking trip planned for this summer, slowly increasing the length of his walks and the pack weight (adhering to post-op instructions of course.) A couple of weekends ago, 6 months after the re-redo, he went on an overnight camping/backpacking trip and hiked 13 miles of the AT in NC with a 30 lb pack. No problems with shortness of breath or dizziness (his main pre-op issues), and the only pain he complained about was his legs--he's not used to mountainous terrain because where we live is pancake flat.

The point of this post is to say that if you haven't had surgery yet, choose your surgeon wisely because it makes all the difference in the world. The amount of experience, the surgical techniques they use, how frequently they perform Nuss, the number of bars they typically use (this mostly applies to older teens and adults), their pain control protocols, and so many other factors play in to how good your results are and what your recovery is like.

I plan on doing a post at some point listing all the things that (imo) you should be looking for in a surgeon, especially if your case is very severe or complicated in some way (asymmetrical, sternal rotation, carinatum/arcuatum, if you have a connective tissue disorder, etc.) I'll invite others to add to the list as well. I also want to include a list of tips on how you can lessen the misery of your recovery. It is heartbreaking to see so many posts here from folks who've had surgery with bad outcomes or really rough recoveries that in some cases could have been avoided (again, just imo).

P.S. I'm not saying everyone can have a recovery as easy as my son's has been, because I think it's fairly rare, but there are definitely things you can do to prevent or lessen some common problems.

Hi all -- I'm new to this message board, I've always sort of tried to keep my pectus to myself. It's been hard for me to discuss it externally, but I've resolved to move forward with the correction and would appreciate some advice.

I'm down to Dr. J in Phoenix and Dr. LoSasso in NJ (just outside of NYC where I live). By most accounts it seems that Dr. J is the best surgeon that there is, but Dr. LoSasso is definitely up there. I met with both and felt more comfortable speaking to Dr. J, for what it's worth. But I've spoken with former Dr. LoSasso patients (referred to me by his office) and they (not so surprisingly) had nothing but good things to say about their experience.

I am 35 years old, my Haller Index is 3.8, the pectus is quite asymmetric/uneven, and I have considerable rib flare on the left side. Coupled with my scoliosis, the appearance looks a lot worse than my 3.8 HI would suggest. I rarely show my chest in public and generally avoid swimming pools / the beach.

I've had notable symptoms since middle school, but grew up abroad and never thought to do anything about it. In addition to the constant psychological stress and anxiety stemming from my pectus, I've always struggled with physical endurance, taking deep "satisfying" breaths, and a generally high pulse rate in the 90s (not entirely sure whether this one is pectus related but I suspect it is). I did the cardiopulmonary stress test, which indicated that I am at no more than 70% capacity compared to what I otherwise would be without the pectus. Thankfully, the echo did not reveal significant pressure on my heart, though it does indicate that it has very limited room.

My last symptom is a bit strange, and it's not clear whether the procedure would improve it. Back when I was 22 years old (so about 13 years ago), I tried my mom's new bowflex machine and was doing this butterfly type workout. The weight was a bit too much for my left side so I ended up feeling sore afterwards, particularly near my sternum, a bit left of center. That soreness has persisted ever since, and it also resulted in a newfound ability to "pop" my sternum, as one might crack their knuckles, back, or neck. I crack my sternum multiple times a day (probably 20+ times a day), and it's usually as easy as slightly shifting my shoulders back, puffing my chest out, or just turning my neck. Sometimes it's harder to pop my sternum and I have to twist and stretch in ways that require more effort -- and sometimes even then I'll fail to get the crack. That usually leads to more soreness and inflammation, at which point I have to actively coach myself to avoid cracking my sternum joints. The soreness/inflammation will subside a bit in the coming days and then I'll go back to popping occasionally. Both Dr. J and Dr. LoSasso advised me to try and avoid proactively crack my sternum, but weren't able to provide me with more clarity. Neither were able to guarantee or predict whether this would be resolved with the procedure.

Anyway, with that background, I would love to hear any advice or feedback. It took a long time, but I think this is the year I'll get the Nuss done. It's a question whether Dr. J is worth the trip to Phoenix from NYC or Dr. LoSasso is just as good (and would only be a 30 minute Uber ride). It would also be helpful if anyone knows of any differences between their approaches to the Nuss. For example, I believe they might use different methods of keeping the bars in place and handling the pain, but I have to admit I'm not clear on what the differences are and whether or not that should factor into my decision.

Thanks in advance!

My Haller index is 4.7, 23F, my scan is attached. I have nearly 6 months to prepare for the operation. How can I start preparations? What lifestyle should I start living? What exercises should I start doing? Are there any dietary tips? Currently my lifestyle is completely sedentary, and I am in a relatively bad shape.

People with similar cases, how painful and how long was your recovery? How long did you have your bars?

Hello all, I have posted here earlier. My boyfriend (26M) has PE with a haller index of 8,13. He is looking for options to get operated on as soon as possible, and he has a great feeling with Dr. Lützenberg from Ostercappeln in Germany. (My boyfriend’s family is originally from Germany so that’s a plus for him.)

1. I was wondering if there were other people who also went to Dr. Lützenberg and their experiences (I only read good things about him online and our online consult was very pleasant.)

2. Does anyone in here have experience with the S2 document? The website is hella confusing. 💀

Just as the title says. Do you know anyone who had pectus who lived a normal human life span?

Lots of posts here where people write about taking Ibuprofen 2 months after operation each 3 hours(?), it seems too often. Isn’t it harmful for the organism to take painkillers for so long? Do you take antibiotics for months too? It seems dangerous and harmful for the immune system.

How long did you live under painkillers after operation? How long did it take you to start living as a normal person again (with bars inside)?

Anyone have a PE / nuss procedure specialists they can recommend in the Los Angeles / Southern California area?

I have a consult with a UCLA thoracic surgeon next week, but want to get a couple opinions before committing to one.

Hello everybody.

42F 7 weeks post op. Obvious diaphragm issues on the right side of me.

• often painful when I walk. In the back mainly, but also under my ribcage
• a regular burning-like sensation or like there is some kind of nod in there
• breathing quite impaired and messed up
• loud cracking of the right ribs when I lay down and practice diaphragmatic breathing exercices
• I also have some sort of nervous gaspings at night.

Read a study about how the surgery can affect the diaphragm and impair good breathing https://atm.amegroups.org/article/view/77447/html (mine hasn't return to normal).

I already had tensions in the diaphragm on this side pre op but did not seem to be an issue to the surgeon.

Has anyone experienced diaphragmatic issues post-Nuss ?

Thanks for your advice

Hello i'm writing to seek advice for my friend 17M that has gone through the pectus excavatum surgery two weeks ago. He has been recovering fine but in the past two three days he's been spitting blood for no reason. The doctors can't seem to explain why just yet. They suspected lung cancer but i think that's very unlikely since he never smokes isn't really exposed to smoke either and has been a professional athlete since young. I wanted to ask if anyone has gone through a similar problem or knows what might be the issue..any reply would be highly appreciated❤️

Hi, I am 34F 3 months post NUSS procedure, HI 4.3. Just curious how much meds do you or did you take around this time into recovery?

I currently take 1x1000 mg paracetamol or 1xbrufen 400 mg and also 1 lyrica per day.

I wonder if it's possible to practice martial art after 2 years and 6 months post nuss, i know I don't have much time left till i can remove the bar but I don't want to risk the condition coming back (even if its only a possibility)

What do you people think?

I'm officially 30 days post-surgery. I previously shared an update a few days after my procedure when I was feeling good, but I wanted to provide a more recent update on my recovery.

Unfortunately, instead of improving, I started feeling worse. I became less mobile, felt stiffer, and noticed that I would cough every time I stood up.

At my one-week check-up, they found fluid around my lungs, known as pleural effusion, and recommended a thoracentesis to drain it. I haven’t seen many people mention this procedure in forums, but it involves inserting a long needle into your back to remove the fluid.

The procedure itself takes about 30 minutes and is not as painful as it sounds. However, during the process, I suddenly felt hot and like I was about to pass out. They ended up draining a full liter of fluid from my left lung. Almost immediately afterward, I felt significantly better and regained much of my mobility.

At my nine-day follow-up and X-ray, they discovered some fluid around my right lung. The doctors left it up to me whether I wanted another drainage, and I declined, which I now regret.

After that check-up, we drove to my parents' house in Vegas. I felt great during the drive and stopped every hour to walk. But on my first full day there, I started feeling bad again. My cough returned, and moving became more difficult. I assume the fluid around my lungs had built up again.

I didn’t want to go through thoracentesis while in Vegas, so I decided to tough it out.

I did not start feeling better until around week three. That was when I finally felt like I was making progress. I started taking longer walks and gradually built up my endurance. Now, I’m walking about two miles a day. I’m finally leaving my parents' house because I feel ready to be on my own again.

Things That Helped My Recovery:

1. Motorized Recliner – My recovery was unpredictable. Some days, I could get up on my own, while other days, I couldn’t. Having a recliner made it easier no matter how I was feeling.

2. Pill Organizers – At one point, I was taking medication six times a day. I used a Sharpie to label each row with the corresponding time and set alarms so I didn’t have to think about it.

3. Fitbit – I bought the cheapest Fitbit to track my steps, sleep, and heart rate. It was a great way to monitor my progress and overall recovery.

Recovery has been a rollercoaster, but I am finally feeling more like myself. Happy to answer any questions if I can.

Anybody here have a long history of family that have died early in their 40s and 50s from heart issues?

Hello! I’m hoping to get nussed this summer if my insurance approves. I have a 3.3 HI. I also have significant rib flaring (which I know getting nussed doesn’t solve it, but it can effect it either positively or negatively). I’m looking to get it done with Dr. Seder at Rush Hospital in Chicago.

Has anyone heard anything about him? I’m curious on if people gotten nussed by him had a good experience.

EDIT: I should’ve mentioned I’m 24 y/o

any good doctor recommendations for pectus in Missouri? Or do you think it’s better if I travel somewhere to get it

Hi! I’m 20 and I have a high heart rate, could this be cause by pectus? I’ve had other tests done and they have not found any cause but i was diagnosed with pectus when I was little. Also, if I wanted to see a doctor to get a consult and tests done for pectus what type of doctor would I go to?

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So I know pectus is genetic, but I was thinking the other day about how it lines up in my family. My dads parents and his two older siblings do not have it. He and his younger sister both do. With both him and his sister with pectus their oldest child doesn’t have it, but every child they had after that do. With his two older siblings none of their children have it either. I was just curious if other people had similar patterns in their families? Or if the way it fell was just a coincidence. I think it’s cool/strange that once they had one kid with pectus all the rest of their children that followed also had it.

After 18 years of my family and I fighting for my health I finally got the surgery yesterday. I am really bored in the hospital so ask away!

Hi all. I am a mid-30s female with a mixed pectus deformity. That said, I have silicone breast implants of 2 different sizes that were put in to help with symmetry. However, I am soon to meet Dr J to consult about an overall corrective surgery.

Does anyone have any insight into breast implants with a Nuss/ravitch procedure?

1. can they remove the implants at the same time as the Nuss surgery? Or do I need them removed prior?
2. can I get new, smaller implants at the same time as the Nuss procedure?
3. can I have implants at all while bars are in?

Thanks in advance!