[noname]

1. Know your anatomy and how it functions and relates to the other anatomy in your body.
2. Know that there IS good pain as well as bad pain. Learn the difference. Not all pain is bad. Some pain can be worked and/or pushed for the better. In some circumstances it IS good to push yourself. In others it is not good. Know the difference. Do not assume that any pain is bad or cannot be pushed/worked.
3. Patience.
4. Slow and steady wins the race.
5. Each person's TOS is different. They may have some commonalities with your own, but be careful about applying one person's therapy to your own. Review #1 above.
6. Sometimes you will feel like something therapeutic merely aggravated your condition. It may NOT be for the worse but for the better. Sometimes/somethings are 2 steps forward and 1 step backward and that may be the only way to progress/heal with some situations.
7. Exercise IS important. Movement IS important. TOS is both a neurologic and in some instances a vascular as well as neurologic condition. In some instances the vascular anatomy is compressed causing symptoms...it may be that you can help that compression by movement to increase the circulation. Blood and the nutrients in it NEED to get to the muscles. Sometimes the pain is the muscle screaming for blood/nutrients. Know that this is a reality more than you might think. Rest is good, but the body NEEDS continuous circulation.
8. Strengthen muscles to help correct/improve your posture. I still believe that more of us would be helped more by this than with surgery. I'm willing to be alone in this belief but I know that I am not as there are MANY doctors and other medical professionals that complain that their patients want instant cure and believe that is achieved with surgery. Did I mention "patience." This is key. Recovery does take time. It can and will happen. The body once was in a state of no pain, no compression. Absent abnormalities like cervical ribs, you do have the ability to improve your own condition.
9. YOU are your best medical professional.
10. POSTURE. Improve it, or lose it. Strengthen the muscles to HOLD good posture and you can reduce any compression.
11. Consider and try things like: Yoga, stretching classes, aerobics, strength training, chiropractors, acupuncture, massage, physical therapy and other similar modalities. They all have something to offer and to help recover from TOS.
12. Do NOT put down someone's therapy. It may not be for you but it may help someone else. It may have been a key to the person posting about it. Do not assume that a post is "advocating" any particular therapy but merely SHARING information that helped that person and may help others.
13. Seriously review if you have tried everything possible before resorting to surgery. Surgery is very taxing on the body and quite invasive. In many instances it appears to have created more or other problems rather than give relief. In some instances it is the remedy necessary. I still firmly believe that it should be avoided unless all other measures, after good effort and patience, have failed.

[astern]

in other words... all bets are off!

or... common sense rules!


noname makes many good points here. each TOSser is unique and different and if we keep that in mind when reading posts/suggestions we may cover more ground.

My Feldenkrais therapist has helped me make (incremental) progress by helping me to become even MORE aware of MY body (I didn't think that was possible) and my MIND and how they work (or don't work) together.

I completely agree - some pain is GOOD. I would rather have some minimal pain keep me from over working muscle groups than be so medicated that I've lost the warning signs of pain. I would fear really damaging something as I've always been the type to push through pain. My aches and pains are like the proverbial "canary in a coal mine".

Of course, it does get out of control at times and there's not a lot I can do about it but I've found that respecting my boundaries of pain has reduced the frequency of flares that are directly caused by my actions.

It's like solving a mystery...isn't it?

Anne

[phoebe]

Sharon Butler in her self help for RSI specific to TOS calls good pain as "kissing the pain". Good pain actually feels completely different to me than bad pain. It's that "it hurts so good" thing. This is the kind of pain I feel when doing that crucifix position in her set of exercises (not strengthening exercises). I have some after effects from good pain - a little of the same symptoms you experience all the time, but not worse. Also, the pain I feel when working with a small ball to release trigger points.

I know I have NO strength in my upper body, know I need to strengthen some stuff, but in that respect, I'm terrified to do something for fear of hurting myself further. phoebe

[Stardust]

Phoebe,

I think many of us share the same fears about upper body strengthening. Just in case you missed it, here's a forum link from a few months ago with some great suggestions:

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/sh...light=exercise

[noname]

Originally Posted by astern

some pain is GOOD. I would rather have some minimal pain keep me from over working muscle groups than be so medicated that I've lost the warning signs of pain. I would fear really damaging something as I've always been the type to push through pain.
It's like solving a mystery...isn't it?

1. You say mystery, I say puzzle. It is either way.
2. Pain, whether good or bad, is a teacher. It is trying to communicate to you. Know this and you have won half the battle.
3. Medicate pain too much or too often and you do run the risk of losing the message and causing damage or further damage as Anne hints at above. Before popping that pill try to figure out the message which is all apart of the know your anatomy, know your body and what it is doing and trying to tell you. You ONCE were in a state of no pain, no compression.
4. Exercise is possible and IS helpful. Again, slow and steady. Watch for signs. Know what you are doing and how it may or may not impact on your TOS. In the exercise thread given above, I mentioned my lesson with the simple bicep curl. This was so key to me for that exercise as well as others and for some day to day tasks. It became apparent because of pain. Bad pain to be specific. At the time I was learning the anatomy and it occurred to me that in "carrying a box" (think about what your upper body is doing in that position) or doing a bicep curl (same thing...look at what your upper body is doing) unless I stood up a bit straighter or tried to keep my shoulders back throughout, I'd compress the nerve as it passed under the coracoid process...why? because just the slight bend forward of the upper chest reduces that space...the carrying or the bicep curl requires the biceps...the bicep has two tendons ONE is attached to the coracoid process if you cause it to pull down on reduced space..bam..compression of the BP. Now..if I maintain the good posture, no compression...no pain...no irritation. I still have the ability to carry boxes, and do bicep curls. Same thing applies when I bend over to do anything in that position...I merely try to hold the shoulders back...instead of rounding forward to get that extra inch in the bend forward. Try it. You may understand the difference. Understand the difference and you may be able to improve your situation. Many more tasks are now available to me without flare ups and without pain IF I hold my shoulders back. It was hard to do at first because those muscles were weak hence the "default" relaxed position of tight pec minors weak rhomboids and rounded shoulders and kyphotic upper back...I worked on strengthening the back and not the pecs and I am now more easily able to hold a better posture...it is almost to a point of a default relaxed position without much effort. I still have a ways to go...but the feed back is positive in that I have less flareups and less pain and the ability to do more. I can't emphasize enough the above points. At the risk of getting flamed, if you are not getting better search your brain hard for responsibility in medicating first and not wanting to learn what the body is trying to tell you. It's not easy to accept this responsibilty and I'm not accusing anyone of being to quick to medicate or get under the knife but there are many out there. Do an honest assessment of your own situation to see if quite honestly you fall in that category. If you don't...more power to you and your efforts to get better.