An update on my situation...

I met with someone who is an "Applied Kinesiologist" last week. A fellow by the name of David Leaf in Plymouth, MA. My regular chiropractor thought he'd be a good person to check out. As I understand it, applied kinesiology tests muscles for strength and weakness to diagnose any illiness. I was skeptical for sure, but what the heck.

I told David, who may have the worst bedside manner I've ever run into, about my TOS situation and he immediately said, "Why do you have TOS now and didn't have it 20 years ago? TOS is hogwash. It's all about posture." He then went on to poke and prod me and I must say what I experienced was impressive.

I told him that I had lost 2/3 of my tricep strength. He tested my strength sitting as I normally would. Yup. No strength. He then pushed my shoulder in a certain direction, tested it again, and I had full strength. He did the same thing with all my posterior muscles and compared the strength on my impaired side (left) to the right. Everything was weak on the left. But again, he would position me in certain ways and out of nowhere strength would appear.

I was shocked.

He then went on to tell me that my left side of my body was having a "tug of war" and the anterior muscles...my pec minor and subclavious more specifically...were winning. Basically, the pec minor is so tight it's pulling my entire shoulder forward and inward creating less space in the thoracic area. The muscle below the collarbone was also tight. These are two key areas of nerve compression. So not only is there less space, but these muscles are also impinging on the nerves. Double whammy.

I tell you all this because I think everyone should examine to what degree this may be happening to you. It may be an issue.

David then went on to print out some pages of deep tissue massage and exercises I should do daily. Among them:

* Pec minor massage with a raquet ball against the wall.
* Subclavious massage against the wall.
* Serratus Anterior massage.
* Infraspinatus massage.
* Scapular squeezes.
* Wall push up isolation exercises.

I've been beating the hell out of my pec minor and sub collarbone since and I must say I think it's working. As I do this I can feel bolts of electricity down my arm. The nerves may be getting some breathing room. If this is the case the next step is strengthening the posterior muscles to pull back the shoulder more.

Anyways, there may be something to this applied kinesiology. I know everyone may not be in the same boat as me, but the above may be worth a shot.