Wondering if chiropractic care can help with pectus excavatum? You’re not alone.

Many of us with this chest deformity are exploring alternative treatments to improve their condition and overall well-being.

In this post, we’ll dive into how chiropractic techniques can potentially benefit us. We'll cover the basics of chiropractic care, specific techniques that might help, and what you can expect if you decide to give it a try.

Whether you’re new to chiropractic or looking for additional ways to manage your pectus excavatum, this guide is for you.

What is Important?

The therapeutic effect of this treatment depends on the following:

• Type of deformity
• The severity of the deformity
• Patient’s age
• Motivation.

It’s important to note that the studies have shown a significant negative relationship between the angle of thoracic kyphosis and inspiratory capacity, vital capacity, and lateral chest expansion.

Also, airway resistance is mainly conditioned by the patient’s posture.

The type of good exercise selection is based on an individual patient approach. Fundamental principles in designing chiropractic exercises are based on known facts about muscle attachment, the direction of providing muscle fiber, muscle function, and biomechanics of respiration.

Can Fix Rib Flare

In the following video, you can see how Dr. Brenda Mondragon, licensed chiropractic, uses chiropractic techniques to correct the rib flaring of a female patient.

What is Chroparctic?

The word “chiropractic” means “to be done by hand.” It originates from the Greek words cheir (meaning ‘hand’) and praktos (meaning ‘done’).

The name was chosen by the inventor of chiropractic, Daniel David Palmer. Chiropractic is a healthcare practice focusing on disorders in the muscles and the nervous system.

Additionally, it helps with the consequences of certain conditions on overall health.

When is it Used?

Chiropractic services are primarily used in treating general musculoskeletal difficulties, such as

• Back pain
• Neck pain
• Pain in the bones of the arms or legs
• Headaches

Alternative Therapy

Chiropractic is considered an alternative remedy. It is a non-surgical, drug-free method that tries to fix the structural problems within the whole body.

Chiropractic care treatment is still a choice when the patients don’t suffer from spinal difficulties or nerve compression syndrome.

Beginnings

D. D. Palmer founded chiropractic in the 1890s. He said he took it from “the other world.” His son B. J. Palmer helped develop chiropractic in the early 20th century.

Throughout its history, chiropractic has been controversial. But today, it is approved and used worldwide. You can find a chiropractor everywhere near you.

About Chiropractors

A chiropractor is a therapist who uses chiropractic techniques to treat functional disorders of the musculoskeletal system. The purpose is to relieve pain and restore normal mobility, especially in the spine.

A chiropractor is a doctor or naturopath who has received further training in chiropractic. With the help of unique hand movements, the chiropractor tries to remove joint blockages, usually associated with muscle tension and pain.

It would be best if you also reduce any pressure on nerve tracts. Ultimately, chiropractors should activate the body’s self-healing abilities.

The general goal of chiropractic care is to normalize joints and muscles’ functionality through alternative pain relive procedures.

Before starting the chiropractic treatment, the chiropractor asks about your medical history. This includes orthopedic and neurological tests to discover the origin of the dysfunction.

An essential part of successful chiropractic treatment is physiotherapy, which stabilizes and strengthens the musculoskeletal system. It also includes home exercises you can do yourself after the chiropractor’s brief instructions.

The chiropractic benefit is notable and safe when it’s performed by someone trained and licensed to deliver chiropractic care.

What They Do

Chiropractors manipulate the body’s alignment to reduce pain and increase function to help the body repair itself. While the main idea of chiropractic is spinal manipulation, chiropractic care may also include other treatments.

It has manual or manipulative therapies, postural, exercise education, and ergonomic training. Spinal manipulation is a generic name used for each kind of therapeutic movement of the spine.

Often, it involves applying a quick but firm pressure on a joint between two vertebrae of the spine. Patients with slight to moderate pectus excavatum deformity can see excellent benefits with this non-operative treatment. It is often related to natural therapy.

Purpose

When it comes to corrective exercises to improve pectus excavatum deformities, the main question in treating these patients is how to lift the “sunken” front wall of the chest.

To address this, one should consider the function of inspiratory muscles, which, by their action, helps to pull the chest wall.

Intercostal muscles contribute to the chest wall’s elevation only when the first ribs are fixed and elevated. During the daily exercise program to improve the condition of the front chest wall, the patient should follow these next steps:

• Increase the mobility and flexibility in the spinal support and thorax
• Elongation and tightening of shortened muscle structures
• Strengthening the muscles that counteract the depression of the chest
• Working on the healthy posture of the body

The first two steps are achieved by mobilizing the joints and elongating the chest wall’s soft tissues. This reduces the impedance during chest depression elevations.

Exercises in the first two steps can also warm up the musculoskeletal machinery and prepare it for the following exercises with more vigorous intensity.

You will perform the following exercises to strengthen the inspiratory muscles, which is necessary for chest wall elevation. Activation of the large pectoral muscle, especially its sternocostal fibers, is of the utmost importance.

Mobilization & Stretching

These primarily include:

• Rotation of the upper torso in a standing position
• Flexion of the upper body in a sitting position
• Stretching your arms forward in a kneeling or crouching position
• Lifting weights in a prone position on the back
• Stretching the torso in the supine position at the abdominal positions

Preparation

There’s no special preparation before chiropractic treatment. Chiropractic therapy may require a series of appointments, but the most usual number of treatments is between 6 to 10 visits.

Muscle & Tissue Warm-Up

Electrical Simulation

Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) is a painless electrical flow through the patient’s skin to specific nerves.

The effects are done by a mild heat that helps relieve stiffness and pain, with a chance to improve the range of motion.

Chiropractors may use it to control acute and chronic pain. This method uses electrical pulses to simulate the action of signals coming from the neurons.

These gentle electrical drifts target either the muscles or the nerves. This therapy for muscle recovery sends signals to targeted muscles to make them contract.

The blood flows by causing repeated muscle contractions, and injured muscles rehabilitate. Those muscles also enhance their energy within repeated cycles of contraction and relaxation.

This method can even “train” muscles to respond to the body’s natural signals to contract. This is a unique benefit for those who must relearn essential motor functions.

Electrical stimulation can block pain receptors from being sent from the nerves to the brain.

Ultrasound

Ultrasound is a sound wave that creates deep heat applied to the soft muscles and joints. Ultrasound treatment can help:

• Reduce pain
• Stiffness
• Spasms
• Blood flow
• It stimulates healing by micro-massaging the soft muscles and joints.

Physical therapists also use this ultrasound technique. First, a gel is applied to the patient’s skin to help spread the ultrasound waves into the tissues. The ultrasound inquiry is gently swirled over the wanted area.

Massage

With massage, the soft tissues improve circulation and reduce swelling and pain. It also speeds up the natural healing process. Massages stimulate blood circulation that helps with removing toxins.

Deep Tissue (Swedish) Massage

The massagers use their fingers, thumbs, and elbows to massage muscles and connective tissue. Swedish massage uses long strokes and light pressure to relax the patient’s pain.

Deep tissue massage is a forceful way that frees tension deep in the muscles and connective tissues while relieving pain.

Acupressure

Acupressure is a massage technique based on the theories of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Finger pressure is applied to mobilize or drive energy at specific body spots, named acupressure points or acupoints.

These acupressure points are physical spots that you can locate to release blocked or congested energy centers in the body. The acupressure system requires this therapy to open blockages allowing energy or Qi (chee) to flow freely.

Heat & Ice Therapy

Chiropractic’s most used methods may shift between heat and ice therapy. They may use ice packs to anesthetize the back for a 10 to 15-minute period and then switch to heat.

Heat Therapy

There are two kinds of heat therapy:

Dry Heat

This is done with electric heating pads and saunas. This draws out moisture from the body, and there is a chance of skin dehydration. But, some patients feel that dry heat is the easiest to apply and feels the best.

Moist Heat

This includes hot baths, steamed towels, or moist heating packs that can help enter the heat’s entrance into the muscles. Some patients feel that sweltering heat gives better pain relief.

The most helpful heat treatments are the ones that can keep their heat at the proper temperature (that’s warm). You must be careful with the heat to prevent burning on the skin.

The wanted effect is for the heat to enter the muscles. In many instances, the longer the heat is applied, the better. For minor back tension, short amounts of heat therapy may be enough (from 15 to 20 mins).

For more severe pains, longer heat sessions may be better (from 30 mins to 2 hours).

Ice Therapy

A standard ice cube may be used in this massage, but doing it with a more significant ice piece is more beneficial. You can let someone else give this ice massage to you.

It would be best if you lay on your stomach in a comfortable position. Placing a pillow or towel under the hips will help keep tension off the lower back.

You can also give yourself ice massages by lying on your side and reaching and moving in circles throughout your sensitive places.

Other Common Techniques

hydrotherapy

This method uses water. Hydrotherapy focuses on the body’s response to hot or cold stimuli by changing its temperature.

In chiropractic, hydrotherapy may reduce pain sensitivity through cold incentives that numb the pain, and thermal stimuli increase blood movement and start the healing process.

Infrared Radiation

A thermal camera is used to present coloring hues indicating the blood flow. For example, red hues would indicate higher IR radiation.

Chiropractors use infrared radiation to adapt to regular temperature changes from abnormal differences and assess underlying conditions creating pain.

Cold Laser Therapy

Bits of energy are sent by a laser and received by the cell membrane’s photoreceptors after entering the skin surface.

The cells and muscles then convert this light energy into biochemical energy, reducing pain and swelling, and improving circulation.

Don't Seek Chiropractic if:

• Numbness, tingling, or loss of strength in an arm or leg
• Cancer in your spine
• Heightened risk of stroke
• Bone abnormality in the upper neck

Cost

The price depends on what chiropractic technique you are using. Your first chiropractic appointment may take 45 minutes or up to 2 hours.

You must show the chiropractor an exact picture of your deformity. It will require time for explanations and information on what and how you must treat it. It may cost from $50 to $500.

However, many other things affect the cost of chiropractic treatment. For example:

• Diathermy is a type of electromagnetic therapy that heat and relaxes the tissue, costs from $10 to $40,
• Hydrotherapy systems cost from $50 to $500.

Risks

After the treatments, some people experience minor side effects for a few days. These may include headaches, tiredness, or pain in the treated body parts. In general, chiropractic has few risks. The chiropractor can only treat complaints with a functional cause.

In sporadic cases, complications such as nerve failure symptoms (such as feeling disorders or paralysis) can happen if the chiropractor works inadequately.

Damage to the vessels in the cervical spine areas is less common. However, if that happens, it can lead to blood clot formation and, thus, a stroke.

Conclusion

Chiropractic therapy aims to help the patient restore the body’s proper structure. Chiropractors manipulate the body’s alignment to relieve pain, improve function, and help the body heal.

It enables you to improve your pectus excavatum condition, relieve annoying symptoms, and improve your overall well-being. Compared with other methods for pectus excavatum treatment, chiropractic is often a more affordable alternative.

It is for everyone. So, if you treat yourself non-surgically, chiropractic is an excellent method. You may fix your deformity with proper therapy, exercises, breathing techniques, and a good chiropractor near you.

Analyze your deformity well, and with the help of your doctor and chiropractor, you can choose the correct treatment for you.