My grandson has Pectus Carinatum

Hi,

I just came across your post. Here is a post i have written about my experience with a PC.

Ok so here we go,

I'm now 23, but my story begins 10 years ago.... I must have been about 13 when i had started going through the painful, embarrassing stage that is puberty. At the time i was a top level swimmer for my age group (training 4 hours a day) winning competitions and being seen as a legend by my peers. However what no one knew was the pain i was going through inside.

A number of people had commented about my rather usual chest, but in the swimming world you see all shapes and sizes and people soon begin to get use to it. (plus there were two other guys with a similiar/milder condition). I must mention the swimming group i was in was very close net group of friends.

At the time i was also a keen rugby player and it was here that really affected me. I hated the changing room. People would stare, ask questions and even prodd my chest in discust. Obviously playing rugby meant i had people constantly smashing into me and feeling this deformity. After the session i would wait until the majority had left the changing room before exposing my chest and even then i hid it in as many ways as i could think off.

I can look back now and see how much it affected my social skills and my ability to get close to girls. I was forever trying to hide this obscure condition, wearing multiple layers and even at one point placing an item on the other side to even out my chest. I honestly tried everything, i had even developed a technique of tensing my stomach which reduced the size of the sternum, but as you can imagine this was exhausting and not very practical. As i've read in a couple of other posts, i'm no the only one to try and push and compress my chest back into shape.

The first time i looked into the condition i must have been 16. There was very little information available and what procedures were available were abroad, costly or not for someone in the middle of growth spurt.

So i pushed on, everyday worrying that someone would expose me and pull that face that still haunts me today. You know the face i mean, a mixture of confusion and discust ( even if by accident, it is an immediate response).

After years of staring i finally decided to quit swmming. I was tired of the questions and started to recluse and began using drugs to deal with the pain and embarassment. I could blame the drug use on my chest but in actual fact i think that would be incorrect. I started smoking weed to fit in with a particular crowd. It is also a lot easier to brush of the questions when everyone around you is stoned and only worried about what they can gorge on next.

Once again i decided to do some research, just to see if anything had changed. It hadn't but i came across an article written by someone in a similiar position who said by lifting weights it reduced the visibility of the deformity. So off i went, hitting the gym at every possible moment, using suppliments. Did i notice a difference? No, however it did give me that bit more confidence and self esteem, although it is not a solution. ( for me, i'm sure for people with milder conditions it can be of benefit).

So i left school, and decided to take a gap year teaching in Uganda. Obviously i was nervous meeting a group of new people and once again having to explain my condition. I was surprised to find that very few of my firends paid any attention to it whatso ever. There were questions ( which were asked in a subtle and sensitive manner) but for the first time in my life i felt comfortable with my shirt off.

It was in Uganda that i met my girlfriend (still my girlfriend after 4 years). We clicked and everything was great. She never once made a single comment about my chest as she knew how much pain it had caused me growing up. In some ways i wish she had just addressed it but i won't hold that against her.

A few

Hi

I am new to all this, my daughter is sixteen and has an appointment to see the surgeon for her operation for pectus carinatum. I am really struggling to find any one that is female that has gone through this, all the information relates to males. We are interested to know what to expect post op, how long recovery will be?

Thanks any info would be appreciated she should be having her op July/ August.

Hi this is a message for beaton21, i am an 18 year old male with pectus carinatum, i have an appointment at the royal brompton to see a consultant, could you let me know the name of your suegeon there please as there are a few and i would prefer a surgeon that has performed this many times. Thanks, your message has given me confidence to have it done hopefully. Cheers louisjc

No need for surgery. Bracing and exercise has largely replaced surgery. You can go to the Manor Hospital in Headington and get the T-Joe Pectus Brace along with exercise / physio.

Oh and both males and females are eligible for bracing.

Has anyone had experience of using braces? Where did they get them from and who did they see?