it sounds like you have very good instincts about what might be going on. i would trust those!

regarding the traction - i read somewhere in my travels that cervical traction is NOT a good thing for a TOS'er in PT. of course, there are mounds and mounds of theories, aren't there, and everyone has his or her own approach to things. the last thing i want to do is step on your PT's toes.

but it's YOU who should be running the show here. if you think it might be flaring you up - even if it doesn't hurt you at the time - then try not having the traction for a few PT sessions, would be my suggestion, i guess, and see if that doesn't help calm things down a bit for you.

part of the nightmare with TOS i think for all of us, is it's so hard to tell, with a delayed reaction time of 12 hours or more, exactly which activity it was that caused our pain to flare up or our nerve sx to sky-rocket so drastically!

but i am suspicious as i think you are, of the traction. i also would want to know more about how your arm is being manipulated in those PT sessions.

hopefully, you are with a good, TOS-savvy PT who communicates well and often with your doctor and of course with you. talk to your doctor about all of these concerns. it always feels better, for me, when adjustments are made in my tx plan in specific response to stuff that's going on with me. then i know my tx team is not only listening to me, but they are talking to each other. so important!

use today like dawn said to rest up, ice ice baby, go easy on yourself. also, it would probably be v e r y helpful for your doc if you were to keep track of your sx over the next several hours. like exactly how the "nerve pain" travels, the pattern, what triggers it, makes it better/worse, etc.

they like that kind of stuff. helps them to help us.

good luck, and i hope you feel better. and do better. soonest.

alison