High Precision Measurement of PE

As I have stated many times; I think it is important to measuring the depth of PE quite often. The reason is that it can be very difficult to see with the bare eyes if one lifts the sternum let’s say 2 mm in two weeks. 2 mm may not seem that much in a two weeks period but in one year, at that rate, it will be 5.2 cm which is not that difficult to calculate. It means that most moderate cases should be minimized in one year. I can say from my own experience that the improvement rate was extremely fast in the beginning and the only thing I did in the beginning was to quit lift the heel and also stopped lifting my head up while lying on the back. I remember that by only doing that I lifted my sternum from around 5 cm to 3.5 cm in 60 days. After that the progress rate slowed down. I also remember the excitement of measuring it almost daily and it got me motivated at a maximum level. If one can’t see any difference in the beginning (just with the eyes) it may lead to that the motivation drops sharply even though there is a slow improvement progress.

Here is a suggestion to; how to make high precision measurement of pectus excavatum:

Take a piece of wood stick (wood is not as cold as metal) and drill a hole on the middle; big enough to make it possible for a vernier caliper to fit in it. Also try to find a small coin or any very hard coin like object.

Make preparations for a correct calculation of the depth:

Measure the thickness of the stick and the coin.

It should look like this while the actual measurement takes place.

 

 

Try to do it as accurate as possible by lying down on a hard flat surface and look straight up “in the ceiling”. If you look down on the PE while measuring you will probably find that it will be deeper while you look down on it and this experience will also proof the fact that the sternum lifts out by NOT using a pillow while sleeping on the back.

Make a correct calculation of the actual depth:

I recommend to make a series of measurements to get used to it and to learn how to do it with high precision.

Let’s say you measure the depth to 35.0 mm. After that, remove the thickness of the stick. The thickness of the stick in the picture is 14.0 mm. This means 35.0-14.0=21.0. After that you must do the opposite with the coin. The coin in the picture is 1.2 mm. This means 21.0+1.2=22.2 mm or expressed in another way 2.22 cm. Now you have the actual depth.

(If you don’t know how to use a vernier caliper, it can be a little tricky if you are a beginner, just google it).