Pectus Excavatum Repair Part 1 - Exercises to Improve Chest Appearance
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This hub is about pectus excavatum repair and I will share some exercises and things you can do to improve the appearance of your chest wall without going for the surgery option. As the surgery can take a long time to recover from and can also be very expensive and difficult in terms of getting insurance cover.
I may also write an article on how to get insurance cover if anyone is interested. These exercises are for people with mild to moderate pectus excavatum and remember if you feel any pain please stop immediately. Pectus excavatum repair is a slow process and requires consistent work to maintain and bring that sternum back to its original position.
General Exercise & Posture
Pectus Excavatum repair will benefit from any sort of physical exercise. I have a few friends who joined the army when they had pectus excavatum and came out of it with an incredibly improved chest wall appearance.
They believe all that exercise and standing straight and marching has helped incredibly. Posture is something that can have a huge impact on how bad or good your chest will appear.
The best general exercises for improving your chest appearance are Running, Jogging, Swimming and Yoga.
Weighted Exercises
A great weight exercise to improve your pectus excavtum is the dumbbell pullover or barbell pullover. This exercise is great at strengthening chest muscles aswell as getting a great expansion in the rib cage and helps push that sternum out, and don’t forget to warm before any short of weight exercise and take it easy.
The way I do this exercise at home is to either use a simple weight bench or lie down on the floor with a thing pillow placed behind under your back around where your sternum sinks to give your back a slight arc. This helps emphasize pressure on the sunken sternum area.
Improve Posture to Improve your Pectus Excavatum
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Posture Corrective Brace
Nice posture brace, it also comes across the flared rib area making it a great way to help push in flared ribs
Price: $39.90
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ActiveWrap Back Support - XSmall - Medium
These back wraps can be used to bring those flared ribs in, remember to take it easy.
Price: $40.00
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ITA-MED Posture Corrector, Thoracic Lumbo Sacral Orthosis, Medium (Adult)
Great vest, for a full upper body posture correction, great for people with especially bad posture
Price: $50.92
List Price: $59.00 |
Breathing exercises
Deep breathing exercises can be incredibly beneficial to people with pectus excavatum as it will expand the ribcage and push out your sternum.
Directions
1. Stand straight with good posture
2. Keep hands by your side and inhale, take a big breath, as big as you can possibly do and push out your chest.
3. Hold your breath for 5-30 seconds (5 or less for beginners and 30 for more experienced people) and place your hands in the position seen below except not sitting, hand clasped behind upper neck .(note: don't kill yourself holding your breath doing this even for a short period you will feel it the more you do it. The aim is to expand the chest as large as possible.
REMEMBER IF YOU FEEL LIGHT HEADED, DIZZY OR EXPERIENCE CHEST PAIN STOP IMMEDIATELY.
This breathing technique in just as effective lying down on the ground or sitting straight in a chair just remember to breath in DEEP and if you do this consistently you should notice some improvement in about 3 months, if not you should notice your posture to have benefited from the exercises
the picture below shows how your arms should be placed behind your head. You can see the arrows pointing towards the back muscles, people with pectus excavatum will experience very tight back muscles and this is due to the pressure of the sunken sternum , I actually have some pretty dark looking stretch marks on my back because of P.E.
Broom Twist A simple exercise pectus excavatum repair exercise grab a long pole or broom stick and place it behind your neck and grab the stick with each hand about shoulder width apart. From then begin to twist slowly and controlled at the waist. This exercise will help bring in those flared ribs. Other exercises beneficial to pectus excavatum repair: Yoga, swimming, jogging/running
Continue on to Part 2 for Exercise Routine for Pectus Excavatum
This is part 1 of pectus excavatum repair , part 2 will contain more detailed exercise information
Previous Pectus Excavatum related hubs
- Pectus Excavatum Repair Part 2
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I’m currently running a website on Pectus Excavatum and also have the Pectus Excavatum chest deformity and a lot of people ask me for tips on getting insurance cover as well as how to approach the whole... - Pectus Excavatum Surgery Introduction
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Comments
Hi , thanks for your comment, i totally forgot about part two but I will get onto it and hopefully have it done in a day or so, I also have pectus excavatum so I know what your going through I also run a site dedicated to pectus excavatum ,if you give me your email I can give you some tips and idea's on how to deal with your P.E if you like,
might be best to join hubpages and then you can send me a private msg instead of having your email online for everyone to see
I agree with Scott....Your page has been very helpful & me too have bad self esteem issues...
Great helped me a lot.. thanks.. I never got pain in my chest... but got my chest inwards.. I am doing exercises for a year... Never caused me a pain... Any other exercises could help me out of this...
Hey john , the best thing is the deep breathing exercises I find them much more effective then other exercises , for example going for a run and breathing deeply into the chest can be a great way to push out the sternum
what your site address?
I would also appreciate any suggestion when dealing with an insurance company about Nuss procedure coverage.
the site is http://www.pectuslist.com and I have written a hub on dealing with insurance companies http://hubpages.com/hub/Pectus-Excavatum-Insurance u can also find the link above in the links section hope it helps, if you have any questions let me know:)
I am going to start using exercise 4, is this very effective? If not which excercise should i use? Also how long will it take before i see any large improvement on my chest?
Hello michael, yes the exercises are usually very effective , you just have to be consistent with your exercise and depending on how severe your p.e is it could take up to 2-3 months to see a difference. It seems like a long time and a lot of ppl give up before they see any results, goodluck
thankyou for the reply, I am only going to do the breathing exercises and exercise 4, will there be quite a big improvement over 2-3 months with consistancy?
the breathing exercises for me where great, and its great to see an improvement in your posture which inturn means better chest appearance, always be concience of your posture too poor posture can make your p.e look a lot worse.
Maybe add some yoga stretches too along with the breathing exercises. Most ppl with p.e have really tight back muscles due to the pull on the sternum. Be consistent and you will see improvements:)
by doing the exercises that i have chosen do you think that my depressed chest will elevate and push out to more of a normal appearance?
yes it will push out and start to appear more normal:) goodluck, read my pectus excavatum repair part 2 for a routine you can try out aswell.
how many times should I do the breathing exercises per day? and will I see an improvement in posture and an elevated chest by doing the breathing exercise?
Upon waking and just before bed is the best time to do it, and yes it will help your chest and posture greatly. Take it easy and start at 3 seconds holding breath. You cant be too desperate about getting results just relax and they will come.
I am only 14, is this a good age to be doing this breathing exercise?
as you are at a young age breathing exercises should be fine its just like breathing in , nice and deep and breathing out slowly. Just keep an eye on your posture. Do u stand up nice and straight with your shoulders back? your chest will change as you grow older it may get better or it may become deeper but that is totally normal.
If you get too worried you can always go see a pectus excavatum specialist.
my shoulders are sort of crowned over, my posture does look a little better after the posture though, i'm just worried that my chest may get deeper. do you reckon i should do some exercises from part 2? if so which one to help my chest elevate?
my posture looks better after the breathing exercises*.
can you please reply soon
Hi, sorry for the delay, i cant really advise you to try them so its really up to you, stretching exercises should be fine but you always have to careful when using resistance or pushing against things.
I am only using the dumbell pullover technique and the breathing exercies, is this good for me at my age? how much will the dumbell pullover help me out at my age?
hey, if you wanna talk more about you can reach me on my email expectus@gmail.com that way we dont clog up the comment section:)
hey i'm 15 years old and i have the Pectus-Excavatum .I think its quite deep and it really bothers.
Does these exercises really work ?
have you had this or anyone u know that actully did the exercises and had improved on their chest?
well its varies on how affective they are from person to person but generally yes it will improve your chest appearance, i have pectus excavatum and my chest definitely looks better after exercising and correcting posture
, its just hard for most people to stay consitant with the exercises.
hello im 14 and i have pectus ex, how long will it take until i see a great improvement in my chest after doing the breathing exercises and a couple of chest strengthining exercises?
probably wont notice any visible improvements until 3 to 6 months time, depend on how severe your pectus excavatum is,
just stay consistent even if you cant see improvements in the first few months they will lots of improvement to posture and lung capacity.
HAI YOUR FRANDE
by doing breathing exercises will it elevate my concaved chest? if it does elevate the concaved chest will it go to a normal looking position?
also when im doing the breathing exercise should my hand be clasped behind my neck while i take in the deep breath, or put my hands behind my neck after i have taken the breath?
my 8 yrs has just been told he has pectus excavatum, the dr didn't tell me much, was wondering what the best exercises would be
hi john, I am not sure if you will return to normal position depends on the person really, depends if the breathing exercise has a great affect on you , you might need more variety of exercises.
When you say normal its always hard to say when you've reached normal as the regular chest always has some dip around the sternum area. While breathing have your hands behind your neck, while you inhale and exhale.
hi dawn, since your child is very young I think the best thing you can do to help his/her chest appearance as he/she gets older is to encourage good posture and keep them active. I grew up with poor posture and it made my chest appearance worse as I got older.
For exercises I think he/she a bit young yet but maybe some light stretches would help loosen up tight muscles, especially back muscles get tight because of the pull from the sunken sternum
Hey, expectus,
thanks for this nice article. I will start doing them starting today and will post in 6 month about my progress :)
Once again, thanks :)
goodluck :) , take a look at part 2 aswell , the best thing is to stay active to encourage overall health and help your sternum push out naturally
Hi i have p.e. as well, it is rather mild but for some reason i've got flared ribs only on the left side (and i dont think i was born with it) the right side is fine, also i dont have any problems with back or with posture so i wanted to ask if its possible to straighten out the flaring completely if i follow the breathing exercises?
Thanks in advance.
Hi i have p.e. as well, it is rather mild but for some reason i've got flared ribs only on the left side (and i dont think i was born with it) the right side is fine, also i dont have any problems with back or with posture so i wanted to ask if its possible to straighten out the flaring completely if i follow the breathing exercises?
Thanks in advance.
Hi bob, yea its common to have flaring on just a single side if you look at your pectus excavatum in the mirror usually it will be more on one side which will cause one rib to stick out more.
Breathing exercises will help , and so will ab/core exercises but I believe the main success comes from using a pectus excavatum corset or back brace type thing to help push the ribs back into shape can take quite some time though. I made a homemade brace just out of a back brace and a couple bits of rubber to push rest against my ribs.
how many breathing exercises should i be doing per day?
will there be a point where we have done enough of these exercises and have a normal posture and normal looking appearence and we will be able to stop doing the exercises and there wont be a re-occurance?
usually they say around 2 times a day for 5 - 10 minutes
and like with anything when you've reached your desired level you pretty much just have to do maintenance exercises every now and then
how many individual breathing exercises should i do, for example 10 breathing exercises for 10 seconds each and then repeat how many times after?
also, how long did it take you until you got your desired appearance of your chest and which exercises did you use?
thanks
Well i can't really recommend a specific routine, but its more about listening to your body. With your breathing exercises really getting a good deep breath then exhaling fully.
Its good to do them on a regular basis maybe for 5 minutes in the morning and 5 minutes at night. For me personally I do breathing exercises every now and then but am still looking for a more normal chest appearance.
I sometimes do exercises from http://hubpages.com/hub/Pectus-Excavatum-Repair-Pa other than that just some basic weighted exercises and always trying to maintain a good posture. I also use a homemade back brace every now and then and also use it to bring in my flared ribs.
so will these exercises actually make my chest look normal just like everyone elses?
Well its impossible to say , of course it will improve the appearance of your chest but you may still not be happy with it. It can take a lot of work to get a normal looking chest.
But what do you consider to look normal, a little dent in your chest is normal I find a lot of people with P.E exercise and improve there chest to the point where they've increased there self-esteem enough to be happy with how there chest looks. There are always other options if exercise is too slow for you.
- silicon implant, surgery or vests/braces
by a small dent do you mean that it is just like a small dent in a normal looking dent?
and what vest/braces can you get to help?
thankyou for your other replys :)
yea a small dent in a normal looking chest, it also depends how severe you p.e is ofcourse, and check out http://www.orthopectus.com.br/fmethod.htm for some non surgical methods using bracing to fix Pectus excavatum I'm not sure what sort of results your after.
can you home make the dynamic chest braces so that they will do a suitable job, with the right exercises?
yeaa you could easily put one together at home , using basic posture braces and adding support around the flared ribs to help push out the sternum.
I've seen people wearing a brace and using the pec dec machine at the gym and this can your chest appearance, as you do the exercise your ribs will try and push out and the brace will push them back into normal position
where can you get a basic posture brace? and what other exercises can you do with the brace?
You can get some posture braces from amazon, have a look up the page I listed some of my favorite ones. I use the ActiveWrap on my flared ribs helps a lot.
With p.e correction using vests/braces they recommend you wear it all the time, so you will do everything like usual just with the vest on. Takes time . You can do any exercise you like with a brace :) and the general improvement in posture will make your chest look a lot better
so if i bought a posture brace and appiled pressure pads in the correct area would my posture become better and will my sternum elevate?
well correct posture is the first step to getting a more normal looking chest, only time will tell now make sure you posture is good, do some deep breathing exercises and keep up your physical activity.
Then you can add specific pectus excavatum exercises like from part 2 if you choose to
weii regular exercise is good for normal functioning of the heart
i have created my own DCC brace , it consists of having a belt tightly wrapped around my ribs and i have two pressure pads, one on each rib, if i do use a pec dec will this be affective on improving my sternum?
hi, its me again :) I have flaring only on one side, so i wanted to ask if i should have the pad only on the side where it is flared, or on both sides?
Thanks
hi , from the vests I've seen and that website i posted a bit further up the posts, looks like both sides is best
goodluck , and take it easy :)
My 12 year old son has mild P.E. My family wants to buy a vacuum bell off ebay and use it on him. I am against doing something that no doctors in the U.S.(including ours) seem to know about. It seems like there could be potential risks. do you have any thoughts?
Hi LisaLou I agree with you and am definitely against using a vacuum bell especially on a 12 year old. They pretty much work like any vacuum pump, by increasing the air pressure inside the bell cyclinder.
I have used one before and pretty much pulls your sternum forward but at the same time puts a lot of strain on your heart , I could feel my heart beating faster as blood rushed to that area.
There have not been many people that have cured there PE using a vacuum bell , most people use it for temporary relief or before a photo shoot.
The best option is to make sure your son stays active and keeps up good posture so it doesn't get worse as he goes through puberty as it usually does for most people. Then when he is a little older he can choose to wear a brace, do exercises to help his chest or opt for the surgery.
goodluck
I think I have pectus excavatum on just the right-hand side of my ribcage. So far it hasn't been much trouble and it is pretty mild, but I recently took up golf and my the extension from my backswing is causing a little bit of pain. Basically, what I'm wondering is, since my form of pectus excavatum is asymmetrical, do I need to do any special techniques that are different from these posted here, or can I follow them and expect similar results/improvements?
Hi Greg, the same exercises will work fine as you'll find most people have asymmetrical pectus excavatum. Its very rare to see someone with the sunken sternum totally centered, but it is normal for ribs to be flared more on one side.
The pain your experiencing sounds like it could be from very tight back muscles due to your PE. If you can loosen them up with some stretches , broom twists it should help with the pain hopefully :)
Hi Expectus,
I am a mother to a 3 yr old boy with PE. Even at such young age he already noticed the dent and kept querying me about it. I have seen the paed but he mentioned no worry and there is nothing i can do about it other than the cosmectic surgery. I have tried to google about PE and seen many negative remarks on it and how it can affect the child both physically, emotionally and also their health. I really do not know how to cope with it and it makes me extremely sad when there is nothing that i can do to improve his situation. Could you please give me some advise on how can i help him deal with some possible complications as he grew up and also anything i can do to help him look better and also reduces any future health problem?
Sorry for such long comment but your help is greatly appreciated. I do not know of anyone else with PE and have no idea where to get consultation.
Thanking you in advance.
Hi visakha, I understand your concern for your son and there really is nothing to worry about. The biggest thing for me when growing up with PE was feeling somehow different and felt very embarrassed to take off my shirt especially as younger kids can sometimes be quite cruel.
I mention this a lot but try and make sure he grows up with good posture, people with PE tend to slump over trying to hide there chests and poor posture makes your PE look a lot worse. also make sure he stays active and fit and monitor his chest as he grows and make sure he doesn't feel any chest pains or shortness of breath things like that.
When you think about its not a huge complication as long as it doesn't affect his organs, your chest just looks slightly different and unique :) I wonder if anyone else in your family has PE as its usually passed down as I got mine from my father even though his was very mild compared to mine. goodluck :) let me know if you have any more questions
Hi Expectus,
Thank you so much for your advice. Really appreciate it. Definitely there is no one in the family having PE and therefore I have no idea how come my son got it. Anyway I always try to look at the positive side that it could have been worst. I just thank god for the gift that we have such a wonderful and healthy boy.
I would definitely try to ensure he has a proper posture. I also plan to send him for swimming class, hopefully that can help keep him fit and improve his stamina when it comes to breathing capacity.
Btw, I understand that there is a type of measurement to ascertain the degree of PE. Where and how can i get it done? Since he is so young, is it advisable to do it now?
At what age generally there could be chest pain or shortness of breath? During puberty?
Lastly, currently i kept telling him that he is very special and everyone is unique in their own way. I complement the way he looks and hopefully that will motivate him more that we love him so much the way he is. Do you think that could help? I want to prepare him in case when he goes to school, I dun want him to feel ridiculed by his friends.
Expectus, once again thanks for your advice.
Have a great weekend!
My pleasure :) its definitely a blessing to have a healthy boy and when you think about it a slight dip in your chest isn't the biggest deal :)
Usually the scan will be done around puberty as thats when PE will become the most noticeable as the bones bend into a more permanent position. Its a basic CT scan for the chest
" computed tomography (CT) scan of the chest, pulmonary function tests (PFTs), and a cardiology evaluation also are performed. The CT scan is used to determine the depth of the deformity based on the Haller index"
Other kids may make fun of it but I never really came across anything too bad, after all you can drink soup or eat your cereal out of your bowl chest in the mornings:P It's unique people always said I would be great at smuggling things in my chest hole :P hehe
All the best :)
Thanks again for your advices. Its really a pleasure to get to know you.....though its just through internet... :-)
Anyway hope to keep in touch with you in case i need any further advices as you've been really helpful.
Thank you, Expectus.
Hey I'm a 21 year old male with minor PE. Is it too late for me to attempt try and correct my PE? Thanks.
Hi Sean , its never too late to start exercising and improving your chest I know of guys in there 50s and 60's that are doing exercises to correct there PE
Wow thanks for the quick response. I understand that people can still do the exercises, but due to the hardening of bones in older people, can someone my age still get possible improvement of my PE? Thanks.
Well yea they always say around 21 is the magic age when your bones start to harden , it just means its going to take time but at your age you have more of a chance than most.
its easy to see improvement from basic breathing exercises and posture work , anything like yoga, palates , swimming will also help your chest appearance
if you wanted an operation on your P.E would you need a physical problem that affects your breathing etc. ?
No it can be done for purely cosmetic reasons as well :)
how would i apply to have this done?
talk to a specialist who actually does the surgery:) get your initial checkup and then he will tell you how to go about it costs, recovery things like that :) if you goto pectuslist.com , you can find a list of doctors in your area
thanks for the replys :)
what would be a rough cost to have the nuss operation?
10 - 30k depending on how much insurance cover, and which country you live in.
i live in england, could i get the operation on the NHS?
I'm not sure greg, you would have to contact your nearest specialist
thankyou for all your help and advice :)
no worries greg good luck :)
thank you very much expectus
your article really gave me alot of hope
I have a mild-moderate PE and it was not a big deal for me. I could still go to the beach with my friends and take my shirt off and all but a few days ago I got some problems with breathing you know short breath and all I think it's affecting lung capacity. do you think exercises can help? which do you suggest the most for increasing lung capacity?
Hi jack, the best exercises I would say are swimming and running. They really force you to improve your lung capacity.
other than that actually training your breathing will help a lot. Stand up straight with good posture and take in a deep breath and breath in as much as you can. Pause and then exhale slowly and controlled while maintaining good posture. Really try and expand your chest as you breath in.
if you notice any pain your overdoing it or your PE is putting pressure on your heart or surrounding organs but as you have mild PE I dont think that would be happening, goodluck jack let me know if you have anymore questions
Hi
I already have pretty good posture and my mild pe looks smaller if i put myself in the right pose, so does good posture really get the strenum out permanentli or it just makes it appear so?
I can expand my chest greatly if I get enough air into my lungs, that way the pe is completely unnoticable.
Will breathing exercises with holding the air and the breast expanded for about 40 seconds push my sternum out if I do them say 10 times a day? How about the dumbbell pullovers, will they actually lift the sternum or just strenghten the chest? I am pretty muscular already and I don't know if further development of pecs will improve my appearance, should I also do push ups and bench presses?
Well good posture can help a lot to make your chest look better , good posture can only do so much though and other exercises need to be incorporated
don't push yourself when holding your breath pause for a little while not too long that it feels uncomfortable. It will help push out your sternum but it can take quite some time of being consistent with the exercise
dumbbell pullovers will help i think they are more of a shoulder and upper back exercise than a chest exercise but they will help expand the ribcage and push everything out.
bench presses and push ups will help your pec development but sometimes ppl say that more muscle you get the more obvious it comes, there is no muscle where your sternum is sunken so there is not much you can do to fill it up unless you develop huge lower pecs through weight lifting.
thanks fot the answer. I am also taking some D vitamin drops which are supposed to prevent bones from getting too soft, is this medicine good to be taken now, at the start of my pe exercises or should it be taken after? I am worried of my cartilages becoming too hard and unable to be pushed out but as I see, on the second part of your exercises there is some "bone mineralization" mentioned, in a positive way.
Hi not sure that vitamin D is going to do much, our body already produces it when we get the suns rays. Depending on your age I don't think it will do much after the age of 21 your bones should be pretty much set.
but that doesn't mean exercises wont work many people in there 40's 50's use exercises to improve there chest appearance.
hi this has been so useful, ive always been so aware of mine, i thought surgery was the only option but now i can do these exercises. does sleeping postions effect it? eg, laying on the side can encourage it?
Hi emma, well for me I find lying on my back helps cause I am forced to breath into my chest more, they say to sleep with good posture on your side have a proper mattress or put a small pillow between your knee's.
glad you found it useful , check out part 2 for a more specific routine you can try :)
hello,im 13 and have pectus Excavatum i am reeli sefl contious and dont take my shirt off very often,as people have made bad comments,i think i is a slight case not to serious but i rreeli want help to improve it! please can you help.. (btw does having a "sixpack" make it worse or does it not matter?) thanks (:
hi jake, I know what your going through went through the same thing myself but as you get older its not such a bad thing makes you unique:P
but regarding making it better, i always say posture is number 1 , its hard to stand up nice and straight when your conscious of your chest but it really makes it look better. Then you can try some exercises designed to help push your sternum out but at your age just general cardio exercise will help your lung capacity and help expand your chest.
and having a sixpack wont make it worse it will help your core strength and pull in flared ribs if you have them.
ok thanks so much for the help!
Hi,
I have had pectus all my life, I am 34 years old. Back in 1999 I sought out a few docs in the US to possibly get the operation. I perused message forums for months looking for anything, I came across a guy by the name of Steve, who was living in Japan. He sent me a bunch of emails and we talked for a few months. (you can find them on the ctd website) In these transmissions he explained how pectus is due to in part from bad posture, and rounded shoulders, tight chest muscles, weak abdominals and weak back muscles around the spine. Rib flare he told me can be subsided with heavy abdominal work and wearing a rib compression brace (same type as if you pulled or broke a rib) along with a brace to keep your shoulders pined back, wear it daily and sleeping. I did this for 3 years, after which I finally got my muscles strong enough to sleep without braces. It's 10 years later, it has improved every year, currently it is about 93% normal. I backslide sometime and get lazy, I train mixed martial arts for a few years which has helped me greatly in flexibility and strenght. You would be suprised how many people with pectus have unusually tight hamstrings. (stretch em alot!) Mine was on the right side my left side (heart side) is completely normal. I fully believe that before I am dead I will have a flat chest. It has been a winding road indeed, but its worth every moment. Never let anyone even a doctor tell you something can not be done. If your mind can see it, it can be. I commend you for spreading this info.
I would like to speak to you off line if possible. I am part owners of a new media company who delivers web sites and video on a daily basis. I would be willing to donate a website for this if you are interested. I have been thinking of starting one for about a decade, however with our business we are way too busy building sites than to maintain them.
let me know.
Thanks again.
Chris
thanks Chris, it's great to hear you having success using braces and exercises to correct your P.E. Most people seem to give up before they see any improvements which is a shame.
Tight muscles were a huge problem for me I had incredibly tight muscles across my back that felt like it was pulling me forward.
I would definitely be interested in the website and speaking to you offline. I have setup a site on P.E but its really lacking in the web design department.
You can reach me at expectus@gmail.com or I'll send you an email soon from your pixelmobb website:) thanks
hey,im 16,and i also have a cas of PE :(,so i did the exercises and they surely improved my posture and all,however i stil have PE,however i was wondering if you'd have some before-after PE pics of people who did these exercises?that way it encourages others including me :)
Yeaa some before and after pictures would be good I've haven't seen that many just a few for people using bracing to fix there P.E, i'll try and find some and post them up here
hey,expectus,i have a problem,i also had a slight case of kyphosis,which was postural because it im standing almost straight,tanx 2 the exercises and all,however i have some backstrains,will they dissappear if i stop with the exercises? should i stop the exercises?
yea definitely give it a rest if your back hurts, no points trying to push through pain its a very gradual transformation.
something like yoga is great at loosening you up before your exercises and get blood flowing, make sure your body is warmed up
Hey,
I am 15 yrs old and around 6'3'' and i have PE. I was wondering if there are any specific weight exercises i could do to make my dent look more like a regular chest, and on top of that, make it look nice and big.
In addition, what other exercises can help improve my chest the fastest?
And what are some ways to help prevent the dent from being seen with my shirt on?
sorry for all the questions!
plz write back asap. Thanks!
you should also check out http://hubpages.com/hub/Pectus-Excavatum-Repair-Pa for more exercises but weight exercises
are dumbbell pullovers
any core exercises and heavy ab exercises
broom twists
the only way i know of preventing your dent being seen is wearing a posture vest underneath your t-shirt to help bring in your flared ribs
hey expectus, i actually have a mild depression going on so u think it shud be mroe easier to get it looking normal with these exercises?
and in order, can u tell me what exercises work best for you?
first of all try this hub http://hubpages.com/hub/Pectus-Excavatum-Repair-Pa for more specific exercises and for me
I find the dumbell pullovers really great, and wearing a posture brace really helps, other than that really strong core muscles are great to stabilize everything and of course maintaining good posture.
hey, im 15 and i want to start doing the dumbell pullovers, what weight should i do and how long will it take for me to see any improvements? :)
A weight that you feel comfortable with for 12-15 reps I would say its really up to what feels good for you.
and as far as how long its really hard to say depends what else you do along with the exercise , like bracing. it also depends how deep your PE is, flared ribs
thanks for quick reply, my ribs are only slightly flared and i'd say i have one to one and a half inches deep p.e, how long shoul one rep take?
its should be a nice controlled motion so its easy on your joints, make sure you breath in deeply and focus on expanding your rib cage.
when i breathe in do i do it through my nose or mouth?
do you do dumbell pullovers? if so have they helped you out alot?
always breath through your nose, and dumbbell pullovers do help but you have to do more than that to fix your P.E
i find dumbbell pullovers great for a full expansion of the chest and helps to push out the sternum.
at the moment im doing jogging and dumbell pullovers for 5 days a week. what other specific exercises could i do to fix my p.e?
first of all probably not great idea to do pullovers 5 days a weak , you are working your muscle as well so its good to give your muscles 24-48 hours to recover and rebuild.
you could try some yoga ,something like swimming the back stroke you can really feel it. I like to stand up right with good posture and breath in deeply and after 5-10 minutes you can really feel it on your sternum.
how would i do the breathing in?
and by doing pullovers will they make a big difference in pushing the sternum out? because i read that they arent effective :(
hey,i'm doing the exercises,and i noticed some improvents in posture(not slogging anymore),however i noticed because of my pe my belly seems to stick out a little,people think i gained wait,it's like some ribs are sticking out 2 much :(,is there anyway to pull them back,also how well did your improvements go?
mike - well its different for everyone but dumbell pullovers alone probably wont do a great deal , its all part of a routine you need to develop to target problem area's to fix your PE (posture, rounded shoulders etc)
rak - I have the same problem with flared ribs but i think your PE may be lower down than mine as I dont get the pot belly look too much. Lots of abdominal work should help ,don't neglect lower abs very important. Other than that posture bracing is a great way to fix flared ribs if you stay consistent
what exercises can i use to improve my posture?
it really depends on what your posture is like now , look in the mirror to see where your posture needs work e.g if your lower back is curved too much try back bridges or lower ab work. Try and bring the spine into line
Scott says:
11 months ago
Please write part two........I have been struggling with self esteem issues due to my concaved sternum for decades. Any detailed exercise information you have would be GREATLY appreciated.