New Effective Exercise for Pectus Excavatum

This exercise is a “light weight exercise” and it helps to recover the back (both the muscles and the spine). I have found this one to be very important. I call this one:

Kyphosis Fixer for PE

 

1.       Grab for example two rocks with a weight around 1.5 kg each and try to lie down on the stomach with the hands along the side.

2.       Lift your upper body a few centimeters from the floor so that you can feel a little pressure on the flared ribs and look forward as the picture shows. At the same time: Lift the arms so that they touch each other.

       3.    Repeat many times (10 reps, 2-3 sets).

 

Here you can find another very good "light weight exercise" that lifts the sternum out: http://pectusexcavatumrevolutionblog.blogspot.se/2013/10/light-weight-exercise-for-pe-sternum.html

Pectus Excavatum (PE) 90% Improved No Surgery

The depth in this photo is around 5 mm even though it may look a little deeper. It is because I have made quite a lot of incline pushups during the last months so that the chest muscles have grown (muscles+PE=1.5 cm). It is no longer possible to make measurements the same way I did earlier because of that. It looked so much worse just a few years ago so for me it is a huge improvement even though I have seen people with less noticeable PE gone surgery. I will not do that. Instead I will continue and see if it is possible to improve it even more. My belly is also a little fatty. It is much easier to gain weight now since my condition has been improved (around 90%).

 

 

Thorax Rotation Syndrome 1 and 2

Thorax Rotation Syndrome 1 and 2 are the working titles that I have put on what causes pectus excavatum (1) and pectus carinatum (2). These working titles are a part of my complete theory. The pictures below shows what has happened in the body in these cases (PE and PC). It is also possible to get a combination of these conditions which will result in flared ribs and protruding sternum.

The difference between PE and PC is that in the case of PE the whole thorax rotates while in the case of PC only the upper part of the thorax rotates which will make the sternum to move the opposite way compared to excavatum. Basically; a stronger abdominal area in people with carinatum will force the rotation to take place higher up in the chest.

Pectus Carinatum vs Pectus Excavatum Theory

What are the differences between pectus excavatum and pectus carinatum? Or should it be more right to ask what the similarities are? Or would it be to question if they have anything to do with each other at all?

When having a look at people with those conditions there are two similarities that are the most important I believe.

1. The compression of the back causing the spine to have an unnatural curve called kyphotic spine (it can be so small that it is almost unnoticeable, especially for excavatum).  

2. The back leaning posture.

This makes it likely to believe that Carinatum and Excavatum have the same environmental factor. And what is that main factor? Wrong ergonomics (ordinary shoes that lifts the human heels) that keeps the body out from the perfect vertical ergonomic line and puts the upper back under pressure.

When having a look at a typical person with carinatum there is one big difference compared to excavatum (except the sternum).

The abdominal area, the pelvis and the lower rib cage are intact (or mildly distorted). If the pelvis does not rotate (as in the case with excavatum) there will be a much greater stability in the abdominal area so the abdominal muscles keeps the lower rib cage intact. This will lead to that the rotation of the thorax will take place in the upper part of the thorax (from the sternum and upwards). The abdominal area is able to withstand the pressure from the upper back. And because the lower rib cage is intact the diaphragm will work a lot better and keep the pressure under the sternum and it will play a key role when the sternum starts to be pushed out by the ribs. The ribs and the diaphragm will work together to push it out. Why does the diaphragm push it out? It is the same answer as for pe but in a different way. The chest cavity is smaller than it should be and the diaphragm is over dimensioned compared to the space and it will continue to push it out until the space has become largely enough.    

Pectus Excavatum: The diaphragm push the lower ribs out together with the rotation and compression of the whole thorax after birth. Before birth it is only caused by the rotation and compression.

Pectus Carinatum: The diaphragm push the sternum out together with the rotation and compression of the upper part of the thorax. Before birth it is only caused by the rotation and compression. A stronger abdominal area will make the sternum to move the opposite way compared to excavatum.

Once pectus carinatum is fully developed the diaphragm has the space it requires to operate normally. The problem in the case of pectus excavatum is that the abdominal muscles constantly works to close the lower ribs. This will lead to that the diaphragm and the abdominal muscles will keep up a struggle between them and raise the need for energy (food) constantly over time. This will not be the case for people with pc because there are no muscles that struggles hard to pull in the sternum. It will therefore be less likely that people with carinatum are very skinny.

Pectus Excavatum: Much greater demand for energy constantly.

Pectus Carinatum: A little more demand of energy, especially in the initial stage of the development of the condition.

The male-to-female ratio is relatively similar. 3:1 for pe and 4:1 for pc (according to wikipedia). This fits well in to my theory that there is a specific reason why men are over-represented. Men are generally taller and have bigger feet which will cause a higher moment (newton meter, Nm) when the feet are lifted up under the human heels and the tallness will cause the person in question to go very far away from the perfect vertical ergonomic balance line.

Illustrations and "Thorax Rotation Syndrome" (working title): Here

Pectus Excavatum Before and After Birth

Ergonomic hostile environment plus genetics for high mobility in the thorax is equal to high risk for chest wall deformities. This is my main theory in short. Is the ergonomic environment hostile before birth? The bigger the baby becomes during pregnancy the more ergonomic hostilely it will become. By the end it will become very compactly and if the thorax has high mobility it might be compressed and rotated because of the tight space (the upper back will become heavily bent). Is the ergonomic environment hostile after birth? We humans (in most parts of the world) don’t live along nature any more the same way we did at Stone Age. We have created a hostile environment in the modern society that is. What do we humans do? Beds and pillows are made as if all humans have the same physiology, chairs and other things we sits on are often very negatively constructed, and last but not least: Humanity in the modern world uses ordinary shoes (elevated heels) that completely can destroy the possibility to have a good posture. I am convinced that PE is all about genetics and ergonomics, bad ergonomics which makes the upper back to be bent (kyphosis) and therefore cause what I call “a free fall of the rib cage” (if the mobility in the thorax is high) which may lead to deformities in the chest wall as explained on my homepage and blog.