Pectus Carinatum (Pigeon Chest) - Bracing

[WorkHardPlayHarder37]

Hello,

My 5yo has a sticking out sternum on one side. We've been assured that this is 'just cosmetic', but as it will get worse as she grows I want to know what treatment options we have.

The NHS will operate after puberty, but from a bit of googling it seems that if we act now we could treat it by giving her a chest brace. Does anyone have experience of this?

I'm really worried about this and my GP is not interested!

Thanks for your help,

Lucy

Hi, we have a 13 year old boy with this and travelled over from Ireland to the London Orthotics Centre in Kingston for bracing a few weeks ago. All going well so far.
Feel free to PM me. We can see an improvement already.

My ds had the bracing done (at the same place in Kingston) when he was 14 & has had a great result. He is 17 now & has maintained the correction. Well worth it as far as I'm concerned. Happy for you to message me if you want more info.

5 does seem very young to me. I'm not sure they would do anything at that age. I work in the NHS but unfortunately private is the only way to go with this & Kingston is the only place to go for this type of bracing.

My 7yo DD has this. It's quite pronounced.
She's actually back at the consultant today for her 6 month review.
He told us at her last one it will need bracing when she's older but that at such a young age she wouldn't cope.
Hope that helps. Feel free to message me.

I have the opposite condition - pectus excavatum. Nothing was done about it (not sure if it was even an option when I was a child) and it is indeed only cosmetic in my case. I don’t know how similar the conditions are but just wanted to reassure you that health problems aren’t automatic with this kind of problem.

Wow, thanks everyone for the messages! It's interesting to see that all the bracing is on older kids. I thought that once the child had gone through puberty (and the associated growth spurt) that it was too late to bind and that surgery was the only option.

Phew, I feel like my panic to get this dealt with is over. Thank you so much :-)

I've just seen on the London Orthotics page that ' The optimum age for non-surgical treatment is during puberty, as the chest wall is still pliable.'

Now it all makes sense! Thanks everyone for pointing me in the right direction to find the specialists :-)

Northender so delighted it worked out for your son ! My son found the first few days very tough but is grand now.

There is another clinic in London offering it also but LOC was better value I think, hence our decision .

At LOC they see older patients too, it just means it is much harder work to correct, but not that it can't be done. On ds' first assessment the orthotist was able to correct the deformity manually so we knew it was likely to be a good outcome.
I'm a physio so went into this with quite a bit of relevant knowledge. I think the clinic is excellent & it is just a travesty that it is not available on the NHS
Good luck with whatever you decide work and good luck to your ds foodie