PE: Stone Age vs Today (Did it Exist?)

What do you think? Did pectus excavatum exist at Stone Age?

This is what I think!

Yes, maybe very mild cases (?) and the reason to why I believe that, is because I have tried to figure out how the ergonomic environment must have changed since then.

Yet another illustration which I have made in paint (windows 8.1) shows the difference in the ergonomic environment and what must be the difference from Stone Age and now. The illustration is color coded. The upper row is Stone Age and the lower one is today.

1.      Even the environment before birth have changed simply because babies are getting a lot bigger today which practically means that they are more heavily bent today compared to Stone Age.

2.      At Stone Age there were no pillows and soft beds which could bend the body into many unnatural positions. The average risk to get into such a negative situation was therefore very much lower than today.

3.      There were no chairs so they probably sat down in a very natural position most of the time especially good for the upper back and the lower ribs.

4.      They did not form their bodies into S-shapes by raising their heels.

To sum it up: There have never been any reason to develop extremely strong connections between the skeletal system and the muscular system until now (the environmental prerequisites have undergone a dramatic change).

"Some old good genes" find themselves to not fit in to this dramatic environmental change.

That is the reason (I believe) to why genes for such heavy deformations like pectus excavatum, could have passed through the evolution. 

Fix PE=Go Back to Stone Age

Sloped Shoulders Related to Kyphosis, PE and a Fix

Sloped shoulders is very common among people with PE and is both a direct consequence of the kyphosis and the sunken sternum. The idea to help the upper back towards a correct position by using a clavicle support is well known today and I have even seen suggestions from doctors on the internet, that this can help mild cases of PE. But that is without the zero drop/barefoot shoes included! The effective combination; zero drop+clavicle support is a must to even be worth trying. So here I will give my hottest tip for a long time which I have tested myself for some time and it really has a good effect.

   1.      Use zero drop shoes and no heavy clothes on the upper body.

   2.      At the same time as point one; use a clavicle support to help correct the spine.

   3.      Be physically active (stand up and walk) around two hours.

But as always: I don’t think that the more one uses it, the better it becomes. The body needs rest in between as with all form of physical training/stress. After all, you are going to physically correct your body quite dramatically so I use it just few hours a day (at least in the initial stage which I am into right now, zero drop I use constantly, the essential base of the whole thing).

What does the clavicle support directly do?

When the shoulders are held back in a natural position the muscles in the upper back will be activated so that they pushes the ribs in the direction of the sunken sternum, this will straighten the spine upwards and help further lift of the sternum.

I recommend to especially take a look on this post: “Nuss Procedure vs Do-it-Yourself-Procedure”. The clavicle support will help doing exactly what is described there.

Very Important Information: Your collarbones shall never go behind your ears. Don't put pressure on your shoulders. The clavicle support is just an advisor for your muscles so they gets activated correctly and reminds you to keep a good posture.