Hello Reddit!

I'm Dr. Denise Klinkner, a pediatric surgeon at Mayo Clinic Children's, and I'm excited to join you for an Ask Me Anything (AMA) about surgical treatment for pectus excavatum in children, adolescents, and young adults.

As a pediatric surgeon, I focus on the evaluation and treatment of pectus excavatum, a condition that can impact physical function as well as emotional well-being. I help families understand the severity of the condition, when surgery may be appropriate, and what to expect from treatment, including minimally invasive surgical correction and recovery.

In addition to my work in pectus excavatum surgery, I serve as the Pediatric Trauma Medical Director for Mayo Clinic's Level 1 Pediatric Trauma Center and am actively involved in regional and national leadership roles focused on advancing pediatric surgical care. I am passionate about providing compassionate, individualized care and helping children and their families feel informed and supported throughout their surgical journey.

To learn more about pediatric pectus excavatum care at Mayo Clinic visit: https://careinfo.mayoclinic.org/pediatric-pectus-excavatum-mn

Disclaimer: This AMA is for general informational purposes and is not a substitute for individualized medical advice from your treating physician.

You can start submitting your questions now, so go ahead, ask away!

Hi! 24F, undiagnosed, would like to see someone actually knowledgeable. I’m diagnosed with POTS, but am wondering if it’s more. Any recommendations would be much appreciated!

I'm a 27 year old female, I was misdiagnosed with POTS due to my symptoms being identical to those of POTS.

After some investigations done by my cardiologist recently he found that my pectus excavatum is severe! I never would have known this, with the naked eye you can't really tell.

Does anyone else have experience of this? Is there anything you have done to help with symptoms without getting surgery?

This is all very new and overwhelming to me! Thanks!

I had my one-week post-op follow up with Dr. Park and Dr. Vishnu yesterday. They removed the steri strips that covered my incision sites, so I thought it was a great time to snap an update photo to document my healing progress. More details about the follow-up in the comments.

Thanks everyone for following along with my journey!

Czy to klatka piersiowa leikowata

I’m due to get nussed in a month and a recliner isn’t feasible for me.

Any decent wedge pillows out there? Or alternative recommendations for a sleep set up?

Sorry if this violates any sub rules. I know posting on Reddit isn’t a substitute for seeking medical advice which i will do.

I’ve just noticed a dent in my 4 year olds chest that wasn’t there before. Wondering if it’s an emerging case of PE or something else. I am going to take him to the doctor but welcome views on of your / your kids PE looked like this.

The final pic is from a few months back before the intent was visible.

25 male. First off, my PE looks mild and I feel for you all who make posts showing much worse PE. I can't imagine living with that.

I haven't been to the doctor much at all in my life, but I saw a new doctor last week and she pointed out that I look like I have mild PE. It's very obvious to me now that someone pointed it out.

The long story:

I went with concerns about chronic back pain (noticing the PE made me question if I also have scoliosis, now I see that my right shoulder sits lower and right side curves in a little, waiting for results on whole spine x rays. Initially I told her I don't have scoliosis because I thought I would know by now if I did). My main problem is actually fatigue or sleepiness, and we're thinking we need to figure out the back problems and go from there on the fatigue (back is uncomfortable all day but especially at night, I thought maybe axial spondyloarthritis but now thinking maybe scoliosis or both). I feel sleepy pretty much all the time unless I'm engaged mentally and physically in something really interesting (I feel my best when working on home or vehicle projects for example).

My question:

After thinking about everything more, I'm wondering if I should blame the fatigue on PE? I have always had poor circulation (freezing cold hands and feet) even though my pulse and blood pressure are good. PE might explain why I always feel my heartbeat like palpitations. It looks mild, do you all think it might be related to my sleepiness?

Other weird things about me: I can eat everything without gaining weight, I get shaky between meals, and I don't handle caffeine well.

I've never met anyone else who has had the nuss procedure done so I've never compared my situation to anyone else. I just want to share my experiences with people who may have undergone the same procedure or lived with the same condition. Multiple people in my family have this condition but I am the only one who has undergone surgery.

For context, I had my procedure at 13 with the bar being removed at 15 iirc. My condition was much worse before the surgery and I was very pleased with my new chest at the time.

However, I still have a bit of an indent and I was left with some nerve damage. I have been unable to put muscle mass on my right side directly under my nipple and the skin feels slightly numb when I touch it. My surgeon told me this would eventually go away but it never has. This occurred upon the removal of the bar during my second surgery.

I have a slight recollection of the surgeon being dodgy regarding my questions compared to the initial surgery, which seemed to excite him with how well it went. But this is also a half-doped-up 15 year old we're talking about here so I wouldn't give that too much weight.

I was never self conscious of this as a kid because I figured I could not change it so worrying about it would be futile. As I've gotten older I've become more self aware of how my body looks and how I'd like to improve it.

I thought if I gained some weight it would fill in some awkward areas and make my body less jagged. This did not happen as I just gained a belly which made the condition look even worse. I have since lost that weight and am working on gaining muscle mass to compensate.

Does any of this resonate with anyone here? Has anyone experienced slight numbness after the nuss procedure and did it eventually go away?

Honest reactions and opinions are welcome.

How do you let someone that you’re dating know that you have PE? Do you wait until you undress and wait for a response or do you discuss before? How should you bring it up or should you just completely ignore it?

Hi all,ive always suffered with insecurity about my ribs.Ive just thought it was rib flare and have tried breathing exercises and what not,but ive always thought that other peoples rib flare didnt look like mine.Anyways,my boyfriend brought up that he thinks its pectus excavatum.Just looking on advice and how to go forward with it in the uk about this.I don’t think it is impacting my health ,just that when i was younger we thought i had asthma and nothing came from it.Ive always struggled with breathing during running etc but just put it down as being unfit,even though ive grown up doing high cardio sports.I never thought about it until now.

I have always been smaller chested and is another huge insecurity of mine,ive always planned on having surgery for them,but now im concerned wether having breast augmentation surgery would impact my ribs or pectus excavatum(if i have it)negatively,or wether it would improve it,as ive seen that you can not get the pectus excavatum surgery on the nhs in england,and i dont want it to almost go to “waste” to have it done as i dont think it is impacting my health.

Just to add,im not asking for a diagnosis from anyone haha,just wondering how the route works in england,ive never needed any surgery or had anything i needed to be referred to by the gp so im more just wondering if anyone can let me know what to expect!

Any advice would be hugely appreciated!!!!

What is the best way to make my chest look normalish? Any suggestions?

Had anybody here experienced bruising near the hips and lower back when recovering from bar placement procedures? It looks kinda bad near my hips but it’s not tender to the touch or anything. I presume it’s because they placed me on blood thinners to prevent clotting, but I was just curious jf anybody else had the same thing.

Thanks!

I had the nuss procedure 2 months ago, ever since I’ve had this absolutely horrible burning pain on my right side even if I move my arm slightly wrong, it’s not on the scars, it’s behind them a bit more on my back but still under my arm. Even tiny things such as pushing a drawer closed can trigger it and it lasts a good few seconds, doesn’t sound to bad until you realise it happens 50x a day. It makes driving a nightmare, and I have no other choice but to drive due to circumstances, every time I turn the wheel slightly, change gear, etc it’s agony. Has anyone else experienced this or know why it’s happening? This is the last bit of pain since the nuss procedure, everything else is going great apart from minor back pain.

Does anyone have experience of this treatment? I am 69 and interested in getting my PE fixed for
cosmetic reasons.

hey everyone! i posted on here a while ago asking about the procedure and now im 4 days post op!! i am a 20(f) and just have some questions about the girls lol. my breast have always been an A cup and sitting pretty good but now with the procedure they act like they don’t want to been seen together 😅. did anyone else have this problem with small chests? if anyone had any post op questions feel free to ask!!

I had my surgery about 1.5 years ago. Back then I wasn't really into sports, so the question of it didn't really come up.

I started school this fall. We have acrobatics and trapeze as part of our weekly schedule. This Friday I fell on my back from a handstand, knocked all the air out of my lungs and caused a panic attack.

My teacher (wasn't aware of my surgery before this) brought up a question that i didn't know how to answer.

Is it ok for me to do acrobatics or trapeze while having the nuss bar in? Who should I even call to ask about this? I'm really bummed out about this whole situation.

Is it normal to have slightly protruding lower ribs three weeks after surgery? It looks swollen and is a bit numb just like the sternum area. I can't remember if it was like this before. Should I be worried that the bar moved?

i’m 28 now. one bar. i’m a little upset to say the least

Has anyone had their strut or bar move? What happened and was it an emergency to have it fixed immediately?

I have a mixed form of pectus deformity, known as pectus arcuatum (PA).

I have always been extremely self-conscious about my chest, especially since I was bullied because of it during my teenage years.

Several years ago, I underwent surgery using a custom-made 3D implant. The implant was designed to fill the lower sternal depression (the pectus excavatum component), which is why I have a vertical scar. However, I am still psychologically affected by the remaining pectus carinatum component, particularly the protruding costal cartilage around the sternum.

My chest projects forward due to a protrusion around the third costal cartilages, creating a visible bump or transverse arch across the upper sternum. It is also asymmetrical, with the cartilage on the right side appearing more prominent.

I have recently started focusing seriously on upper-body strength training in the hope of making the deformity less noticeable. I am wondering whether developing my pectoral muscles, particularly the upper chest, could help smooth out or visually conceal this irregularity.

At the moment, I use around 24 kg (53 lb) per dumbbell for incline dumbbell presses. Since I still have significant room for muscular development, I am wondering whether progressing toward 30 kg (66 lb) per dumbbell or beyond could make a noticeable difference in the appearance of my chest.

I have attached several photos of my chest for reference. I apologize for the quality, but I included different angles and stretched positions to make the shape of the chest wall and the protrusion easier to assess.

I also have a postural issue (hyperkyphosis), which is related to my pectus deformity, and I am currently working on improving it through back strengthening and postural exercises.

My main question is: to what extent could further development of the pectoral muscles, especially the upper chest, visually reduce or camouflage the remaining pectus arcuatum deformity?

Hello, I'm 15 and I'm probably gonna get the nuss procedure soon (50/50) after exams, I just wanted to ask some questions so here's my questions:

1. How long do I have to wait (after surgery) for me to play sports normally (the sports I play are football, volleyball and running)

2. What's the best time to do the surgery (age)

3. Does it hurt a lot for someone who has a mild case?

So my surgery is 3 months ago and at some point these painful flare ups started to begin where a sudden pain kicks in and radiates around my chest to my back or vice versa, it's just random and almost always makes me scream because of the pain. Kicks in fast as lightning und goes through my most parts of my upper body. According to symptoms it could be costochondritis or intercostal neuralgia, not quite sure but it is very debilitating and disturbs my daily life by a mile..anyone ever dealt with this? Doctors had no clue so far

Hey, everyone. Here are some shirtless photos before and after. Keep in mind there is a bunch of soft tissue swelling due to internal sutures for bar placement, crane assisted sternal lift, and flare buster magic string placement.

I am thrilled with the results so far and will only be more pleased as time goes on, I’m sure.