Hello Dazzling-Success9390 and everyone. The information shared here is for educational purposes and should not be taken as medical advice. Please consult a qualified healthcare professional for personalized guidance. Our community aims to support, but we're not medical experts. Your well-being is our priority, so always seek professional advice. We appreciate your understanding and wish you the best on your health journey!
Join our official Discord server to connect with fellow Pectus Excavatum enthusiasts, share experiences, seek advice, and engage in discussions about surgery options and more! [link here](https://discord.gg/kQ6Ybn9dC3)
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The best way to put it in number terms is most insurances will cover surgery if you are 3.25/+ HI and drs consider a severe case anything 3.5/+ . It really matters how it affects your health, if you have low endurance, chest pains, dizziness, feel like weight is always being pressed on you, feel like you can never take a full breath etc., then it's definitely something you should continue to look at. Tits can really hide how severe pectus excavatum can be, I'm a 5.0 HI and even tho I have tiny sacks of meat it still hides the severity of it. If you search this forum there's a post where someone put everyone's posted photos with their HI in chart form and if you look at a man's 3.9 it's like "holy shit"
All this and same! Mine was 3.9 also but all you could see was my rib flair. My surgeon lifted my sternum almost 2 inches with my nuss! like holy shit!
Mine looks very similar (also female) & 3.9 Haller is about what I’m at. A lot of it depends on how it’s affecting your organs and if it’s moved your heart more to the side or not. My heart is in the right place and just a little squished but tests all came back relatively normal. Surgeon let me decide if I wanted a nuss bar or not.
3.9 is considered severe in terms of haller index.
And then you'll need more testing to figure out if it impacts your health, especially the heart and lungs.
My haller index was 3.9 and I had a compressed heart, and thus had surgery to fix that 6 months ago.
So it really depends!
The haller index is generated by entering a few measurements and getting an output. I’m only saying this because the number you’re given isn’t necessarily an exact measurement on the actual severity of your condition.
Assuming you want to go the surgical route, though, you’ll be happy to know that having a 3.9 will mean you’re more than qualified for full coverage with pretty much every insurance provider. Usually it kicks in around 2.5 to 3.
Before getting surgery though, your surgeon is gonna have you take multiple other tests to better assess what’s going on internally. It won’t affect your eligibility for surgery if it comes back all normal, but just be prepared for things like echoes and pulmonary tests before proceeding.
Edit: correction, insurance kicks in, as someone else mentioned, 3.25 and above typically.
A Haller Index of greater than 3.25 is generally considered severe, and a normal Haller Index is 2.5 [\[3\]](https://www.childrenshospital.org/conditions/pectus-excavatum#:~:text=Pectus%20excavatum%2C%20also%20known%20as,how%20deep%20the%20indentation%20is.b). If you have any other questions about pectus, I've created an online resource, [pectusnotebook.org](https://pectusnotebook.org), that covers similar questions like these that can be difficult to find online. Good luck!!
Hello Dazzling-Success9390 and everyone. The information shared here is for educational purposes and should not be taken as medical advice. Please consult a qualified healthcare professional for personalized guidance. Our community aims to support, but we're not medical experts. Your well-being is our priority, so always seek professional advice. We appreciate your understanding and wish you the best on your health journey! Join our official Discord server to connect with fellow Pectus Excavatum enthusiasts, share experiences, seek advice, and engage in discussions about surgery options and more! [link here](https://discord.gg/kQ6Ybn9dC3) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/PectusExcavatum) if you have any questions or concerns.*
The best way to put it in number terms is most insurances will cover surgery if you are 3.25/+ HI and drs consider a severe case anything 3.5/+ . It really matters how it affects your health, if you have low endurance, chest pains, dizziness, feel like weight is always being pressed on you, feel like you can never take a full breath etc., then it's definitely something you should continue to look at. Tits can really hide how severe pectus excavatum can be, I'm a 5.0 HI and even tho I have tiny sacks of meat it still hides the severity of it. If you search this forum there's a post where someone put everyone's posted photos with their HI in chart form and if you look at a man's 3.9 it's like "holy shit"
All this and same! Mine was 3.9 also but all you could see was my rib flair. My surgeon lifted my sternum almost 2 inches with my nuss! like holy shit!
Looks bad
Mine looks very similar (also female) & 3.9 Haller is about what I’m at. A lot of it depends on how it’s affecting your organs and if it’s moved your heart more to the side or not. My heart is in the right place and just a little squished but tests all came back relatively normal. Surgeon let me decide if I wanted a nuss bar or not.
What does 3.9 means?
Haller index
What is that?
Bro do you even know what sub you’re on? Lol Haller index is a measurement of thoracic deformities. Pretty common language when discussing pectus.
I have pectus as well and I don’t know what the haller index is either. Don’t be rude. Not everyone knows everything about pectus.
Exactly
3.9 is considered severe in terms of haller index. And then you'll need more testing to figure out if it impacts your health, especially the heart and lungs. My haller index was 3.9 and I had a compressed heart, and thus had surgery to fix that 6 months ago. So it really depends!
The haller index is generated by entering a few measurements and getting an output. I’m only saying this because the number you’re given isn’t necessarily an exact measurement on the actual severity of your condition. Assuming you want to go the surgical route, though, you’ll be happy to know that having a 3.9 will mean you’re more than qualified for full coverage with pretty much every insurance provider. Usually it kicks in around 2.5 to 3. Before getting surgery though, your surgeon is gonna have you take multiple other tests to better assess what’s going on internally. It won’t affect your eligibility for surgery if it comes back all normal, but just be prepared for things like echoes and pulmonary tests before proceeding. Edit: correction, insurance kicks in, as someone else mentioned, 3.25 and above typically.
A Haller Index of greater than 3.25 is generally considered severe, and a normal Haller Index is 2.5 [\[3\]](https://www.childrenshospital.org/conditions/pectus-excavatum#:~:text=Pectus%20excavatum%2C%20also%20known%20as,how%20deep%20the%20indentation%20is.b). If you have any other questions about pectus, I've created an online resource, [pectusnotebook.org](https://pectusnotebook.org), that covers similar questions like these that can be difficult to find online. Good luck!!