Issues with chest muscle development

Look, I’m definitely not an expert on all this, so I can't really give you a technical breakdown of what's going on...
Hi, I'm 13 years old, and while I'm certainly no doctor, this is what it looks like...
The muscle on my left side looks fine, but the right side just looks empty, almost like it isn't even there...
Someone mentioned that I might be having some trouble breathing...
But honestly, I don't feel any shortness of breath at all...
My breathing feels totally normal, and I have plenty of stamina when I'm running or playing sports—I don't get tired easily.
Everything seems fine in that regard, but it still leaves me wondering
What happens next?
Is there any kind of "treatment" plan?

Scott Allen10 said:Is this some kind of joke?🙂...My gut tells me it actually is...🙂...

It isn't!
I'm being serious here...
You’re coming at me to question things and basically stripping the authority away from the people who actually know what they're talking about and can help me!

David Flores45 said:Look, I’m no expert on this stuff, so I can’t really give you a technical breakdown of what’s going on...
Hey, I’m about 13 years old, and while I’m definitely not a doctor who knows all the medical jargon, here is how it looks...
The muscle on my left side looks fine, but the right side just looks empty, like it isn't even there...
Someone mentioned that I might be having trouble breathing...
But honestly, I don't feel any shortness of breath...
My breathing is totally normal, and I’ve got good stamina when it comes to running or just playing sports—I don't tire out easily.
As far as that goes, everything seems okay, but the big question remains:
What happens next?
How do we figure out a "treatment" plan?!

How can you be sure it's not just a minor issuethistime?

Can you lift your arms normally at different angles? Try this: have someone watch your chest while you lie flat on the floor. Pick up some weights with your arms spread out—something heavy enough to make you work, but light enough that you aren't losing your mind from the effort. You should at least be able to feel those muscles engaging.

placidjackal36 said:How can you be sure it isn't just a mild caseof this?

Can you lift your arms normally in different directions? Ask someone to watch your chest while you lie on the floor and lift some weights with your arms spread out—pick something heavy enough to feel the burn, but light enough that you aren't struggling too hard. You should definitely feel those muscles working.

It doesn't look like that to me....
There isn't any sort of indentation...that area just looks flat...
Do you have any other examples, or am I going to have to take pictures and post them myself?

David Flores45 said:It doesn't look like that....
There isn't some kind of weird indentation... that part is just flat...
Do you have any other examples, or am I going to have to take pictures and post them myself...

Of course it doesn't look like that when you're looking at an extreme case in a photo. It’s possible that in your case, your ribcage is recessed just enough to match the thickness of your pectoral muscles, making the area look totally flat instead of having that natural slight curve.
Besides, we aren't just talking about muscle here; there's fat tissue involved too.
Have you ever had a chest X-ray done? Did they tell you anything back then?

Try the experiment I mentioned: have someone use both hands to feel the exact same spots on both sides of your chest. If they don't feel any tension or difference on one side, then we’re definitely dealing with something unusual.
I mean, look, even if you haven't developed much muscle there—or if it's just a tiny sliver—you should still feel a difference in how your arms move.

If you really want to, go ahead and take a picture, but make sure you watch your camera angle. You can't drift outside the median plane (that middle sagittal line, the red one in the photo), otherwise the image distortion will mess everything up.

Maybe you should post a photo, just so the people giving you advice actually have a clue what they're looking at. 😉

Don't pay any attention to the background here....
Hopefully, you'll all catch my drift eventually....

I’m telling you, there isn't even a deviation from the midline, but he's all like... 🤦😁

Look, just stand up straight against a wall, right in front of the camera. Back up at least six or seven feet, and then just crop out the extra space later in an editor. If you get too close—like, under six feet—the lens distortion is going to mess everything up.
The way this looks, it's like your left side is slightly tilted and dipped, which would suggest scoliosis, but honestly, it's almost impossible to actually spot anything in a photo taken like this.
Even if the shot was perfectly framed, looking like this, you really have nothing to be embarrassed about. You're overthinking it, which is basically a rite of passage at your age. It's always the same thing: people think their nose is too big or their legs are too long... 👍

David Flores45 said:

Honestly, I think you look totally fine to me. I really don't see any major difference at all. 🤷 Maybe it’s just my own eyes or maybe it's just how the photo turned out, but seriously, I don't think you have much to worry about. To me, everything looks perfectly okay. 👍

It looks a bit indented on the left side of the photo, but honestly, I don't think you need to lose any sleep over it... You just go see a doctor, they tell you that you're missing a chunk of muscle—which, let's face it, is way more likely anyway—and then you head over to a plastic surgeon at 18 and call it a day.

Yeah, you can't really do much about it before you turn 18 anyway.

thanks...

driftingpuma16 said:I mean, you look perfectly normal to me. I honestly don't see any difference at all. 🤷 Maybe it’s just me, or maybe it’s the lighting in the photo, but honestly? I don't think you have any real reason to worry. Seriously. It looks perfectly fine to me. 👍

Signature? I don't see anything. Even if there is something there, I guess you’re overthinking it. You're exaggerating. Don't exhaust yourself over it. Unless it's actually causing health issues, you're just wasting your youth worrying about absolutely nothing. 😉

Rebecca Lee said:Honestly, I don't even see a signature... if there really is one, you might be overthinking things just a bit. Don't let it stress you out too much, unless it's actually affecting your health. Why waste your youth worrying about nothing? 😉

I'm hoping to just get it out of my head. When it's finally time for surgery, I'll deal with it then. Until then, I'm just living life happily and without a care in the world!

David Flores45 said:
DON'T EVEN WORRY ABOUT THE BACKGROUND HERE....
I'm hoping you guys can see what I'm getting at....

I’ve actually dealt with something pretty similar myself. On my end, there’s a noticeable lack of muscle on my left side. I tend to work pretty hard during the day, so I've managed to build up some decent muscle mass, which unfortunately just makes the imbalance on my left side stand out even more. I'm not entirely sure if it's because I'm left-handed—I do all my writing with my left hand and everything else too. Anyway, hope everyone is doing well. 😉 If any of you have some advice or want to share your own experiences, please do! You definitely aren't the only ones dealing with this kind of thing.

swiftjackal52 said:I'm dealing with something pretty similar. On my end, the left side of my chest muscle just isn't there. I hit the gym hard during the day, so I've built up some decent muscle mass, which actually makes the imbalance stand out even more—it’s obvious that nothing is happening on my left side. I don't know, maybe it's because I'm left-handed and write with my left hand and all that. Best to everyone. 😉 If you guys have any advice or want to share your own experiences, please do. You aren't the only ones struggling with this!!

I've got the exact same thing. It varies from person to person; some people notice it way more than others. When I was a kid, it really bothered me. It's tough being different from everyone else. But once you grow up, you get more self-assured. You eventually learn to accept yourself for who you are. Honestly, having this pectoral deformity—where part of my left side is missing—actually forced me to pay attention to my body. Because of that, now that I'm in my forties, I don't have the gut that most of my friends have, and I'm not carrying extra weight. A lot of people live with this congenital anomaly. I think about one in every 10,000 men has it. Do a little research; Google "Poland syndrome." For the most part, it's nothing serious. I think there was even a famous boxer who had it. Once you fall in love, grow up, and start a family, you'll forget all about it. Just look at it as being unique.

Hello everyone,

I've dealt with an issue regarding my left pectoral muscle since birth—essentially, I was born without it. I'm wondering if there might be any surgical options available to correct this...

lonepanther9 said:Hey everyone,

I've dealt with issues regarding my left pectoral muscle since the day I was born—basically, I was born without it. I was wondering if there's any kind of surgery that could actually fix this?

I'm assuming we're looking at partial agenesis here? Or is it a total absence?

From what I understand, trying to functionally "install" a muscle that never fully formed in the first place isn't really something you can do with standard surgical methods just yet. 🤷

I'm not sure where you're located, but honestly, it might be worth grabbing a consultation with a plastic surgeon—maybe somewhere like Cedars-Sinai...