SuperJoyce is a PT in Santa Monica. She is an OCS (Orthopedic certified specialist, i think?) I haven't grilled her long enough yet to figure out how she learned what she did. The one time I asked she said it was an "eclecetic collection of knowledge" (I know, not very helpful) She does do a LOT of body work, as Ada mentioned hers did. She has no assistant, so her hands are on me the whole time I am there.

If you are conflicted, you might feel better if you talk frankly and openly with your PT. Ask her if she is frustrated, and you can share with her that you are down b/c of lack of prgress. It isn't neccessarily anyone's fault. It is a tough condition. If she is frustrated and doesn't know what to do with you, then maybe you can agree to either start looking elsewhere or work together to find other modalities. On the other hand, if you ask her and she can explain the reasonsn for what she is doing and sounds relatively confident about her chosen course of action, then you might be more relaxed about giving her method a chance. Any method, even a really good one, is going to take time for you to see improvement.

Another avenue-does you surgeon have any specific PT'er reccomendations? My doctor has one he is very fond of (I didn't know that until I asked, 4 months after I started seeing him) and Joyce was a recomendation specifically from another TOS doctor. As a TOS surgeon, he/she might have experience with someone specific. It is probably worth travelling a bit for good PT if you can swing it.

I would also call and "pre-interview" pt's if you are thinking about switching. Ask them if they have ever heard of Edgelow, or how they approach TOS. If they look at you with a dumb expression, pass!
On the other hand if you get one that says, there is no protocol, each patient has to be evaluated and treated individually....go and give them a chance (that's Joyce's answer).

MY first big clue that the first PT was of limited use was when they could observe adn comment about how my trapezius felt like a rock but would only massage and treat the front part of my neck/shoulder because "that's where TOS is". (duh?)

Seems like something someone should write a manual on. Of course, all the good ones are probably too busy fixing the broken people.

Good luck to you. I wish I had a better answer to your problem.

Johanna