Comments on: Pectus Excavatum Dizziness in [2024]: Causes, Relief, & More https://mrpectus.com/dizziness/ The #1 Pectus Excavatum Website Mon, 26 Aug 2024 15:03:39 +0000 hourly 1 By: Ray https://mrpectus.com/dizziness/#comment-92198 Thu, 14 Sep 2023 02:27:40 +0000 https://mrpectus.com/?p=4374#comment-92198 Mihail: You mentioned you become dizzy due to limited lung capacity, but you are de-emphasizing something very important… your heart. Have you had an EKG lately? Many pectus excavatum patients have abnormal EKGs, probably due to compression of the heart by the sternum and also perhaps costal cartilages. The heart is “trapped” and might not have enough room to expand, so stroke volume is decreased. In that case, with exercise or stress, in order to raise cardiac output, the heart has to beat very fast, faster than for people whose heart is not restricted in volume.

Have you paid attention to whether your thoracic spine position affects your symptoms? In my case, I have found that when I “hunch” over, that is, bend my thoracic spine forward, my symptoms increase. That has gotten worse as I have gotten older, as often occurs, probably because the rib cage becomes more rigid and the spine becomes more kyphotic. It seems to me that what is happening when one bends/hunches forward is that the rib cage and sternum bend down and inward (since they are attached to the thoracic spine), pinching the heart between the sternum/cartilages and spine. The time you blacked out was after reading, probably hunched forward. At any rate, consider what’s happening with the heart in addition to the lungs. I think the heart is the more important factor.

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