AUSTRALIA'S LEADING SPECIALIST IN KLOBE VACUUM BELL TREATMENT
NEW AT PECTUS CENTRE
Pectus Physiotherapy
We're exploring a specialised physiotherapy programme for pectus excavatum — designed to work alongside vacuum bell treatment, not instead of it. Here's what the research actually says it can do.
WHY IT MATTERS
The chest wall is only part of the picture
Pectus excavatum rarely travels alone. It often brings along a rounded posture, a tighter chest, and — for a lot of kids — a quiet loss of confidence. Physiotherapy is built to meet all three.
Posture & mobility
Breathing & fitness
Breathing & fitness
Forward head, rounded shoulders and thoracic kyphosis are common alongside PE — and they respond well to targeted mobility and strength work.
Breathing & fitness
Breathing & fitness
Breathing & fitness
Lung volumes and exercise tolerance can lag behind healthy peers before treatment — and improve significantly with a structured programme.
Confidence
Breathing & fitness
Confidence
Most young people seek PE treatment because of how it feels to live in their body. Better posture and outcomes show up in how they carry themselves too.
WHAT THE RESEATCH SHOWS
We only offer what the evidence backs
A look at the clinical studies behind physiotherapy for pectus excavatum — not just the headline result, but what it actually means for a patient.
Better together
Breathing, restored
Breathing, restored
Physiotherapy + vacuum bell outperforms vacuum bell alone
In a randomised trial of 26 adolescent boys, adding a 12-week physiotherapy programme to vacuum bell therapy produced significantly greater improvement in chest depth, posture, and treatment satisfaction than the vacuum bell alone.
Alaca, Alaca & Yüksel, 2020 — Interactive CardioVascular and Thoracic Surgery
Breathing, restored
Breathing, restored
Breathing, restored
Lung function and walking distance improve significantly
Over 12 weeks, children with PE not undergoing surgery showed significant gains in lung capacity and 6-minute walk distance — closing most of the gap with healthy peers.
Amăricăi et al., 2018 — Wiener Klinische Wochenschrift
The "reverse pull"
Every chest is different
Every chest is different
The pectoral muscles can help lift the sternum
With the arms fixed in a raised position, the pectoralis major can work in reverse — pulling the depressed chest outward instead of the arm inward. This principle underlies several key exercises.
Cheung, 2005 — Journal of Paediatric Respirology and Critical Care
Every chest is different
Every chest is different
Every chest is different
Muscle tightness isn't always where you'd expect
Testing 42 muscle-length measures in teenage boys, researchers found pectoral tightness was actually less common in PE patients than in healthy peers — a case for individual assessment over a one-size-fits-all plan.
Jarosz et al., 2013 — Polish Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery
What to expect
What a programme actually involves
Every plan is built around an individual assessment, but most follow the same broad shape — building from mobility, through strength, to lasting habit.
1. Open things up
Gentle mobilisation of the spine and chest wall, and stretching of tight anterior structures — preparing the body for the active work ahead.
2. Stretch what's tight
Targeted stretching of the pectoral muscles and lats — the muscles that tend to hold the shoulders rounded and the chest closed.
3. Strengthen what's weak
The trapezius, rhomboids and spinal extensors are built up to counterbalance the front of the chest and support an upright posture.
4. Lift, actively
With arms raised and supported, controlled lifting exercises use the pectoral muscles to help draw the depressed chest outward.
5. Relearn breathing
Diaphragmatic breathing and segmental breathing exercises aim to improve lung volume and chest wall expansion.
6. Build fitness
Cycling, treadmill walking or swimming, introduced once the foundations are in place, to build cardiorespiratory fitness over time.
7. Make it stick
Ongoing postural awareness — including mirror feedback — turns strength and mobility gains into posture that holds on its own.
Vacuum bell and physiotherapy do different jobs
They address different parts of the same problem — and the best evidence says they work better run together!
Klobe Vacuum Bell
Provides the mechanical correction — lifting the sternum and costal cartilage into a more normal position.
Physiotherapy
Improves the mobility, muscular support and posture around it — and appears to enhance the vacuum bell's own effectiveness.
Coming soon to Pectus Centre
Interested in physiotherapy for pectus excavatum?
We're gauging interest before we launch this service. Pop your details in and we'll be in touch as soon as it's available.
Sources
- Alaca, N., Alaca, I., & Yüksel, M. (2020). Physiotherapy in addition to vacuum bell therapy in patients with pectus excavatum. Interactive CardioVascular and Thoracic Surgery.
- Amăricăi, E., Suciu, O., Onofrei, R.R., Miclăuș, R.S., Cațan, L., Cerbu, S., & Popoiu, C.M. (2018). Assessment of children with pectus excavatum without surgical correction. Wiener Klinische Wochenschrift.
- Cheung, S.Y-K. (2005). Exercise therapy in the correction of pectus excavatum. Journal of Paediatric Respirology and Critical Care, 1(2).
- Jarosz, M.A., Barinow-Wojewódzki, A., Wiernicka, M., & Pawlak, K. (2013). Functional testing of muscles in patients with pectus excavatum. Polish Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, 10(1).
- Schoenmakers, M.A.G.C., Gulmans, V.A.M., Bax, N.M.A., & Helders, P.J.M. (2000). Physiotherapy as an adjuvant to the surgical treatment of anterior chest wall deformities. Journal of Pediatric Surgery, 35(10).
- Rezumeș, M-Z., Cațan, L., Amăricăi, E., Codreanu, A-M., Vătăman, A-A., & David, V-L. (2025). The Impact of Physical Therapy on Postural and Myotonometric Disorders in Patients with Pectus Excavatum: Study Protocol. Life, 15(10).
- Hacettepe University (2025). The Effects of Schroth Based Exercise Therapy in Adolescents with Pectus Excavatum. Clinical trial registration NCT06763406.
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