hi, so sorry to meet like this! but glad you've found us. boy, i have to agree with you on one thing, at least. i don't think you have TOS... yet. but your injury is NOTHING to fool around with. this doesn't sound like a torn muscle to me from the sx you are describing i would guess more along the lines of a nerve root injury, i am sorry to say.

you are near mass general hospital, correct? so i would think you have access to some amazing docs in your neck of the woods. that being said, if it were me and i knew at (what i can only guess is) your age what i know now, i would probably seek the consult of dr. david kline (www.chinup.org/news/news1.asp) ASAP if there were any way in hell i could afford to do so. or at the very least, call his office and ask him to recommend the VERY BEST neuro at harvard for you to see for this.

obviously, you are a very intelligent fellow. but i would not lose any more time trying to dx yourself. as i am sure you know from what you have gleaned so far, this is a highly complex area of the human body. not to mention, an extremely controversial area in medicine when you start bandying about terms like "TOS." use 'brachial plexus injury' - might go down much easier, my good man! you need immediate tx, possibly surgery to correct something like this. and i DO NOT SAY THIS LIGHTLY. this is serious. i know this is not what you want to hear. i am so sorry this is happening to you but i do believe your chances for recovery are good if you act quickly to seek the proper tx.

i'm almost reluctant to give you this next site. but because it may lead you to some good practitioners in your area, and i assume you are a grown-up and able to make healthy decisions here ya go: www.rsi.deas.harvard.edu. keep this in mind for when you need to find a good PT or bodyworker... maybe also they can help lead you to a neuro, PM doc, physiatrist, or even a surgeon. who knows.

as far as the diagnostic testing goes, get the consult squared away with the BEST surgeon you can find first. let the surgeon run the show (s/he will, anyway). don't waste a lot of time or money on tests now which your surgeon won't even look at, is my point. by the way, if you don't need surgery, GREAT! let a surgeon tell you that, though. you still need a consult. that is all i am saying here. because from what you are telling us, you could have yanked part of the neurovascular bundle out by its roots and i don't wonder you are afraid. you will feel much better knowing than not knowing, in my experience. knowledge is power. you cannot afford to fool around with this. this type of injury DOES NOT HEAL on its own.

we have a few posters from MA. i can think of 2 off the top: finz and dolfinz (yeah, i know. don't know what's up with the flipper theme, couldn't tell ya what the deal is there...). so hopefully one of them will see your thread; if not shoot them a PM and ask specifically for a TOS-savvy dr. referral, or 3 or 4. save your **** a lot of heartache that way. doesn't matter that TOS may not be your cross to bear, if the doc knows TOS they can handle a BP injury like yours. it all goes together. sadly.

the links our lovely jo55 gave you i believe are from the stickys up top. more where they came from. you can also subscribe to the journal of brachial plexus and peripheral nerve injury through biomed central at www.JBPPNI.com for free which you might find helpful. another one is the 'sorehand list' via www.ucsf.edu - just enter the word "sorehand" in the search bar and you should be able to find it that way. access to the archives on either one might lead you to some very specific stuff you could call up re your particular sx...

the search and advanced search functions on this forum, located in the upper righthand portion of your screen, will help you find more than you ever wanted to know about TOS and any one of us bums, er i mean incredibly helpful folks hanging out on this board...

good luck to you and if you find that you do have more questions as you read through some of the medical literature please feel free to ask. just keep in mind that you are in danger of getting responses if you post here - we are not docs, but we ARE experts on TOS, from the inside out!!! albeit unwilling onez...



alison
"Be Brave"