Originally Posted by ccrobin

Marc,

I am new to the forums, but this comment struck me as it appears very similar to what my friend is going through. Her issues began with a car accident about 10 years ago. Whiplash and trauma left her with neck injuries that have resulted in years of horrible neck pain and headaches that seem to move around in her head. PT was no use, as it only made things worse for her. She has been getting trigger point injections with minor relief, and has also underwent rhizotomy procedures that provided good relief in her lower neck, but she still suffers in the C2 area with severe pain and headaches consistent with occipital neuralgia. Last week her Internist detected TOS symptoms, which were later confirmed as TOS by a vascular surgeon. The surgeon and neurologist she saw last week told her that the pain she is experiencing could not be caused by TOS. As I look through the forums here though, it seems there are many that have been able to attribute similar pain to TOS. Much like you described, I am suspecting the TOS is causing severe muscle cramping in her neck and shoulders (her trapezius muscles simply will not ever release). It stands to reason this muscle cramping could be compressing the occipital nerve causing the pain in her neck as well as the strange headaches that seem to move around. Would you be willing to share with me a bit more about your symptoms relevant to this, and to how you were able to obtain diagnosis connecting it to TOS? It seems her neurologist and the vascular surgeon could not see past the brachial nerve, and are therefore discounting TOS as being related. She is not quick to want surgery, but if it offered her any pain relief she says it would be well worth it and we don't want to let the doctors just ignore this new diagnosis.

~Christopher