They should be informed that although a plastic surgery may not achieve the “perfectly normal or perfect” result they expect, the patient’s satisfaction after surgery is high and the complication rate is low. Age While many surgeons used to believe that funnel chest should be treated early to promote normal lung development, most now agree that surgery should be performed in childhood or before adolescence. Minimally invasive surgery has been used successfully in patients from 1 year to over 50 years of age, with the ideal age being prepubertal because the thorax is still more ductile at this age, with a short recovery time and low recurrence rate due to the fixed position of the support plates during the rapidly developing adolescent years. Good results and short recovery times have also been achieved in children before the age of 8 years, but there is a potential risk of recurrence because the support plate has been removed before puberty. However, if significant heart and/or lung compression is present, early surgery is also appropriate. The parent(s) should be informed that a second, longer plate may need to be placed at the time of removal of the first one, or that in the event of recurrence during adolescence, the chance of recurrence is approximately 5% and the patient may use a second plate. Up to the age of 10 years, minimally invasive surgery was thought to be appropriate only for prepubertal children, but experience has shown that post-pubertal patients continue to tolerate the procedure well, and good results have been achieved in patients between 30 and 50 years of age. Over 50% of older patients require two or more plates. We believe that the appropriate age for surgical correction is after 10 years of age, when the plates need to be left in place for 2-3 years, which coincides with a period of rapid growth and further ossification of the thorax. The development of funnel chest is fastest and most obvious during adolescence, so if surgical treatment is taken too early, it may recur during adolescence.