Quote:
Originally Posted by cyclist
Thanks so much for the quick reply.
You mentioned symptoms in the elbow, pinky and ring finger...a somewhat typical ulnar nerve path. I have less ulnar nerve symptoms but rather significant neck pain, that also radiates to the jaw. Dr G does transax (thru armpit) procedure. One doc mentioned to me that a transax procedure is more likely to resolve the symptoms going down your arm and less likely to resolve the neck pain. Did you have significant neck pain, and if so, did it resolve with the surgery done in Dec ?? Do you have any lingering symptoms from that Dec surgery? Again, thanks so much for the info...
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I did have jaw and neck pain but never attributed it to TOS. I never mentioned the jaw pain to Dr G so I don't know his take on it. I had braces put on as an adult for the jaw pain and lots of PT for the neck pain over the past 10 years. The jaw pain would come and go and I eventually got a night guard to help with that. At least I got nice straight teeth out of it.
I could deal with the neck pain until I was given a scalene block to diagnose TOS. Two days after the procedure, I was in excruciating neck pain. It got so bad that I could not support the weight of my right arm. I hear that some people have this reaction to the scalene block but the docs didnt know why. So, yes, I had severe neck pain from August until surgery in December. My neck pain is 99% better but I still have some discomfort. Keep in mind I am in PT so I am asking my muscles and nerves to do things they hadn't done properly in years.
I do have lingering symptoms from the December surgery but I was told it could take up to a year to fully heal. My nerve bundle had been compressed on and off for at least the past 8 years so it takes time for everything to settle down.
I am not concerned with any pain or stiffness I feel on my right side because I am confident it will resolve itself with time. I am 99% better then I was before surgery.
I commend the research you are doing. I was a total wreck before both surgeries, wondering if I chose the right doc, if I should wait, do a different type of surgery, etc. It is not a fun process. I don't mean to sound corny but the best advice I received from a friend was to go into a quite room away from anybody and just listen to my intuition. I certainly second guessed my gut feeling but am so glad I had both surgeries done. That was the right call for me.