1. Implication implied, but not given. It should have been clear that I touted work before pain meds and/or surgery. Clearly stated too that if that TRULY did not work, help and one had no other recourse, of course to resort to meds and/or surgery. Yes, sometimes meds during the work but by that to try to avoid the meds because pain is a teacher, it is a communicator....yes there comes a point when sorry...need relief to hear the message but I still truly believe more relief can be obtained through the work. There is no shame in having meds and/or surgery IF a person truly has tried everything else and cannot get relief. Yes, it is needed in many instances. And at the same time yes, people abuse that. Two different groups of people though. Clear?

Yes, they are judging them. They are judging those patients THEY have that are truly not doing the work that would help them. Is there a class of patients that are not doing the work because, as in your case, they can't or it would aggravate the condition and the doctor, PT or ? doesn't realize that, yes...I'm sure there are many instances but my point wasn't about that...my point was that there are people who go running to the doctor complaining and refuse to do the work. They claim they do it, but they don't. If you know your body well enough that a exercise given to you by a PT, doctor etc.. will do you harm...by all means refuse to do it. As I also said YOU know your body better than any doctor, PT etc...they can only assist based on what YOU tell them etc. They do NOT have all the answers. Good ones are better than bad ones. It is a team effort between the patient and the professional. That said, I have had the ocassion when I thought a particular exercise was NOT good for me, would aggravate a condition (not TOS in this particular case) was against ALL accepted medical remedies and when all else failed including my own self care remedies which were not working, I sucked it up and tried one given to me by a professional (a physical trainer in this case..young guy...what do young people know )...and surprise surprise...it worked! So there are plenty of instances, including my own personal where I think I know best and well I don't. That's why I recommended a hard examination of whether one is truly doing what they can or whether perhaps they are giving up too soon because "it's just too hard." I can analogize the situation with my Personal Trainer. He kicks my butt. Often my remark is "are you nuts" (that I can do X)...it's difficult, it's hard...but with effort etc...I am able to achieve it. Not maybe the first time and not without some discomfort. And some of the exercises impact on my TOS. He is aware of my TOS and he doesn't have any expertise with it...but he is very aware of the impact of posture and between the two of us we have worked out what I can and cannot do. Sometimes it is a battle of "no, I'm not doing that as it will hurt me" and if I let go and trust him, it doesn't...surprise, surprise...a few times...oops...he made a mistake (it is a learning process for us both because TOS is very weird sometimes...at least mine is and it can not always be predicted what X might do to the TOS if anything).


there are good professionals and not so good ones. As I said, it is a TEAM effort between professional and patient. I too had a very good chiropractor who misdiagnosed my situation. He was close as was the orthopedist and the massage therapist I had at that time. But we've all been misdiagosed for awhile. He gave me exercises and the ones that did not help I stopped...and I explained why. He did feel that they would help but understood that if they were hurting or aggravating that something else was awry and ultimately agreed "don't do anything that aggravates a condition." Any professional that doesn't come to that conclusion isn't very good in my book. Again...all I advocated and recommended was a good honest self assessment. Was it truly something you could not do? Or was it something you "thought" you could not do" Or something you "thought" would aggravate your condition? Generally you'd probably be right as you sound like someone very in touch with your body. I know I feel very in touch with my own but even I've been fooled. Just saying. It is each an individual assessment that only the patient can "judge" whether or not they are being honest with themselves. I'm not "judging" I can't because I'm not IN their bodies. It's not easy to hear when a professional tells you that you can and you feel that you can't and truth be told you can and could. (again, not always but perhaps more often than we'd like to admit to).

I've always felt there are exceptions to every rule. One cannot say "all" or "every" because sooner or later there is an exception. You don't really know the intent/purpose of everyone who posts here. You do "assume" that they truly want an end to their condition but I can only equally "assume" that there are at least a few that come for the attention and pity. Sorry to be that blunt. It's a great forum for help to those that seek it for that purpose and I truly support that effort. I found it because like many here I wanted help and to see what others were doing and what others have learned. I found that. I'm willing to share my experiences and efforts too. Part of that BEGINS with the honest self assessment. And one has to continuously reassess.

Okay...end of this. I think I'm only repeating myself.