Hi,

I had bilateral vascular, & arterial and neuro on both sides and no extra ribs. They can be one sided or both. My doc has treated many with only one side.
Although it is possible to have mirror images of issues inside it isn't always the case.

If it's caused by your first ribs it can be from having a small frame or just the way your body is. I'm not a small framed person but I'm also not over weight, just tall. But for whatever reason your body doesn't like your insides in that area.

Dr. Brantigan said it's always worse on the dominant side if your RT handed it would be the right side. When I got my right side fixed about a year later my left was really bad and he did that side. He said once the bad side feels better the other side can seem worse and may be, but it probably is because the side that was fixed is so much better the other just feels worse.

It does sound like your body is just small in that area, that can happen on both sides. Good thing you found out now when something can be done then later.

I had surgery about 8 yrs ago and I'm doing great even after all these years. I'm back to work full time in medicine and can't thank Dr. Brantigan enough for his fantastic surgery skills!

I hope you are able to find a surgeon that knows TOS and knows how to do the surgery well. That's the key to getting better.

Good luck to you.