I am 38, male, live in Chicago Illinois. I was just diagnosed with TOS last week.
The first symptom I can remember was a lightning bolt like pain going down my arm when throwing a baseball, around age 18. Had trouble raising my arms above my head, because they would go numb. But at that time, I was very active, lifted weights, was very physically fit, so TOS was not affecting me.

I became housebound at age 18 due to depression. Around the time I was 23, I was using the computer about 10 hours a day in a recliner chair that put me in a hunched position. I could feel intense pain in my anterior left shoulder the second I sat down, yet I continued to sit in that chair for 10 hours a day, because I was mostly still housebound, and had no human contact other than my computer. I would sit at the computer with my left arm behind my back to stretch the anterior left shoulder to relieve the pain.

Around 25 I started to go to college, and got some physical therapy. That pattern would repeat itself over and over. I kept getting referred to physical therapy, and they would tell me the same thing. My scapular stabilizers were weak. My chest muscles were too tight. They would give me exercises to do to strengthen my lower trapezius and serratus anterior muscles, and I could never do them, because the pain in my left shoulder would get unbearable.

At age 28 I finally had an acromioplasty. The pain in my anterior left shoulder went away. However, it simply moved to the inferior angle of my left scapula (the bottom pointy tip of my left shoulder blade).

So then again on the roller coaster of physical therapy for my left scapula. I have been given the same exercises over and over, tried physical therapy. I couldn't do any of the exercises because it would cause too much pain in my left scapula.

Finally, my primary care doctor too pity on me this summer and gave me a referral to an orthopedic surgeon. She diagnosed me as having TOS. She gave me a referral to physical therapy (of course), but also a referral to a physiatrist to do ultrasound-guided steroid injections for the brachial nerves. She also prescribed me a medrol dose pack to take during physical therapy. She said if none of that worked, I could try surgery, but she did not do that type of surgery. She said it would have to be a thoracic surgeon, which she is not.

Right now, I'm housebound again due to depression. I plan to start physical therapy as soon as possible. I know they won't let me progress to surgery unless I jump through the physical therapy hoop. Also, I think the ultrasound guided steroid injection might help, as I had another nerve condition last year (meralgia paresthetica), and had an ultrasound guided steroid injection for that, and it really helped. But I only had meralgia paresthetica for 2 months, so I could see how something less drastic than surgery could heal it. With my TOS, I think I've had it for years, and don't know if a steroid injection around the inflamed nerves would help at this point. It might. I just have a gut feeling that the only "cure" is surgery.

I just started reading this forum today, referred by a friend from the meralgia paresthetica forum on this board. I am glad to see there are surgical success stories.

Anyway, I've written a lot. I'm wonder, is there anything I can do for myself now while I'm housbound? Now that I know that I have TOS, are there any stretches or exercises I can try to do for the next few weeks until I am no longer housebound and can go to true physical therapy? I still sit at my laptop pretty much all day everyday, because I have sort of a part time job working for a friend who does web design. I try to make sure my posture is good when working at the computer, but it's hard.

Anyway, I live in a suburb of Chicago. If anyone wants to contact me by pm, or just reply to this post, please do. I am so alone, and really need support. I know that I was greatly helped by another person on the meralgia paresthetica forum when I was going through that illness in December/January. Support from another person who has the same pain that we do is so essential to me.

I am glad to have found this board. I hope someone doesn't mind reading through my long post. Sorry, I just have so much pent up sadness, it all comes out.