Left side of the chest bigger than right side

[LittleStranger]

Hi, everyone. I've come to this site seeking help for a problem that's been bugging me for as long as I can remember. I've talked to my parents about this, I've seen at least two doctors, who didn't seem to have any logical explanation for it and this site is really my last resort. So every answer is appreciated!

So, let's get to the point.

Ever since I can remember, I've had this noticeably larger/thicker/bigger "bulge" on the left side of my chest, the area just above my breasts. I really don't know how to explain it, so here's a picture and hopefully you'll see what I'm trying to explain here.

http://i51.tinypic.com/295eako.jpg
http://i56.tinypic.com/4zvj0m.jpg

It seems as if this abnormality is a rib that got too thick some way or another. It's VERY visible as you can see and it's been making me self-conscious since... forever. I can't wear sportsbra's to go to the gym, because otherwise everyone will notice it, I have to wear bra's ALL THE TIME, even when wearing dresses, and even bikini's are hard to find, because most of them don't "lift" my breasts enough so that my problem is unnoticeable. It's killing me, not knowing what causes this and not knowing if there's something that can be done about it.

Besides, I think it's been affecting my breathing too. I'm an athletic person, I used to swim and am now going to the gym three times a week (at least!). Everytime I do some hard exercises, I tend to get out of breath and it takes about a good 10 min. to finally be able to breathe normally again.

Another thing I've noticed since I've started sporting at the gym, is that everytime I get on one of those "bikes" or treadmills, my right side of the chest starts to hurt really bad, though it stops as soon as I stop doing the exercise. Any other kind of exercises don't cause this pain though. I've asked my doctor about this, but the only thing he could make out of my 'symptoms' is that the pain is probably from my ribs (I think 2 of them), since everytime he touched that area, it was really sore and painful.


I'm pretty helpless right now, does anyone have any idea of what it might be?


Thanks in advance!
Carla

[LittleStranger]

Thank you for your help, S. Kaul!

I've been doing some research on chest wall deformity and this seems indeed like the most logical reason for why my chest is the way it is. I've tried talking to my doctor about it, but the only thing he told me was to go search on it on the internet. So yeah, I'll try a more direct approach and mark an appointment with a specialist like you suggested.

Again, thank you very much!

[S. Kaul, MD]

Hey Clara!

Well, this seems like a chest wall deformity and if it has been present since birth, it is unlikely to be related to your symptoms. Getting the deformity corrected may be a cumbersome procedure though it may be done for cosmetic reasons. It would be best to get this evaluated by a primary care physician initially and then you may consider consulting a cardio-thoracic surgeon if it would be feasible to get this corrected. At this stage it would be difficult to comment further.
Hope this information is useful.

Take care!