noname- I'd like to add my two cents.

1. Your comments about pain medicine are presented as if it is a choice of Pain meds OR work hard. I am sure you don't mean it that way, it's just the way it sounds. Of course people who do take Pain meds are going to be offended if you imply that by taking them they have given up.

2. It is great that you are able to get by without meds. We are all happy to hear about your successees. But - when you talk about "people who do [X]" you, your chiropractor, and your PT are judging those people. I had a chiropractor (who was excellent and came highly recommended to me) who gave me a list of exercises and every time i saw him he'd make a big deal about asking if I had done them and was always dissapointed that I hadn't. Of course he never could take the time to understand or remember (despite my attempts to explain) that my TOS injury made me incapable of most of the exercises he suggested since they were generalized for everyone. Same goes for 2 out of three PT's I personally have seen for TOS (and one of those two was a TOS specialist). They just have a set of expectations that is unreasonable, then are dissapointed when the expectations aren't met. In a nutshell, I have found that very few practitioners actually understand how I feel and can relate to the trouble i have getting through the day. I can see how any one of them might make a comment about me not being dedicated enough or resorting too much to medication and be totally incorrect.

If I have learned ANYTHING from having this ridiculous condition...it is that many people are not in fact what they seem, and that MANY who look and act normal are hiding troubles, problems and who knows what else behind that happy, normal looking facade.

So PLEASE share your successes with us. Everyone wants to hear about something that works. It is fantastic that you have found ways to make imporvements in your condition. I hope that you are able to continue and are able to avoid surgery.

I would ask that you consider as another has mentioned, that NONE of us who are in this position really want to be here, as I am sure you do not, either. The people who come to this forum to learn are not the short cut takers- we are here trying to learn as much as we can to hopefully affect improvements in our own condition. I know it to be true for those that I have met here in CA, and I can see that it is true for others by listening to the things that they say.