My baby's Dr. mentioned that my son seems to have a mildly sunken chest. I googled this online and instantly received info about surgeries that are available. Has anyone else had a baby with this condition? My Dr. did not seem alarmed but also did not offer much information. I am not sure if I should seek an evaluation or "wait and see" how his development continues. My son is just 2 months.
Thanks in advance for your response!
My girlfriend's son has a slightly sunken chest and he is a completely normal, healthy, very active 7 year old boy who has experienced no problems with it. His father has one too and he's never had a problem either, he is 38.
My husband has mildly sunken chest too. It use to really bother him when we first met and I always told him it was no big deal. And honestly, looking back I don't even think it bothers him anymore. He doesn't have any breathing problems from it though. I would listen to your dr. If he says it's no big deal -- I wouldn't get surgery.
Hello i do not have a baby with a sunken chest but both my brothers have it one is 26 and the other is 18 i gues it runs in the family. Neither of them had the surgery to correct it it seemed to my parents there would be more complicatin wih surgery. Both of them lead a very full life and have had no effects from this.
A.
I have a nephew that had a problem like this when he was little. They waited until he was 4 or 5 to operate and it was a simple procedure. They made little incisions over his chest area and "clipped" the tendons that were making his chest sunken. They did the procedure because the sunken area was presing on his stomach and he couldn't eat much at one sitting. This was over 20 years ago and I am sure procedures are evn better now. Good luck.
my son has the same thing. the doctor was not alarmed when she told me, she told me he had nothing to worry about. She just said that it was passdown from someone else in my family. If you are really concerned, i would just ask your doctor. Hope this was helpful
T.
The MOM Team, Helping Moms Stay Home
www.cheerforyourfuture.com
Hi E.,
I would ask the doctor for some information on his condition and if you are still not happy with the way your doctor is handling things then I would seek another doctors opinion.
I had to do this with our first doctor that we took our daughter to. He seemed like we were a bother and every visit he really didn't explain things so we changed doctors and I am so glad because he will answer any all my questions and always take the extra time to make sure that he has made the best decision for my daughter.
I hope this helps but I know that our kids are our lives. Good luck.
Sincerely,
My son, now 14, also has a sunken chest...more than mild but certainly not severe. It's genetic from his dad's side. It doesn't bother him and has never had any negative side effects for breathing. Just a nice place for water to pool when he's floating on his back in the pool! LOL!
I would certainly wait...especially if the Dr isn't concerned. It makes him uniquely him!
E.,
I'm just reading your question now, even though I know you wrote it weeks ago. My brother (now 36 years old) had a sunken chest when he was born. He did have surgery when he was maybe 4 or 5 (I can't remember his age exactly.) I don't think anyone else here wrote about the scarring from surgery! To this day, my brother has a huge scar across the middle of his chest. He did not have complications during surgery - that's how it was supposed to look after surgery. Ever since he got the surgery, he has never taken his shirt off again in public- which meant that was the end of ever going swimming for him (still, to this day!) Someone told me a few years ago that for chest surgery, there will always be a visible scar because the constant movement from breathing makes it harder for the skin to heal. (This was not a doctor who told me that part, so I'm not sure if that's true, but it sounds logical.) For the rest of his life, my brother was angry that he had gotten that surgery. As I said, he is embarrassed about his scar to this day! I would definitely say NOT to have the surgery unless it's medically necessary. Granted, my brother's surgery was about 31 years ago, but I suspect that even nowadays, there would be a scar which would be more noticeable than the sunken chest itself. Best of luck!
C.
HOLA! I am 31 and have been living with pectus excavatum or "sunken chest" sydrom all my life. It has caused some medical issues, but my chest is severely sunken. I have scoliosis because of it as well as really badly scarred lungs and my heart is not in the right place, but that doesn't stop it from beating! LOL! If the pectus is not bad, doctors will not do the surgery since it is very invasive and involves breaking bones and stuff like that! If you would like to learn more about it, you can go to this pectus website at http://www.pectusinfo.com/main.htm which offers an assortment of information including pictures at different stages of pectus in one boy, pectus surgery and his story. If you google pectus excavatum you will find so much more.
Good luck. And if you want more info, feel free to message me! :)
I was born with a sunken chest and had to go 17 hours of surgery to repair my chest. I was 35 yrs when i had the surgery. I am now 48 yrs old and still struggle to breath. I wish my parents had done my surgery sooner because my chest was severely concaved and I now struggle to breath.
