I've been managing my symptoms quite well ever since being diagnosed with TOS a few months ago. A scalene stretching routine has kept my pain level below a 1.5 on a scale of 1 to 10 consistently with days at a time seeing 0 pain.

That said, I've noticed something strange and what would seem as counterintuitive.

On days where my stress level is high due to work related issues or travel for work, my irritation seems to increase. For example, this week I was presented with a new job opportunity that has me concerned about my future, family, etc. I've definitely been "agitated" and I can feel more irritation on my right scapula and elbow area. It's not tremendous pain, maybe as high as a 2. Still, it's irritating.

On the flip side, I often find that when my irritation increases, my gym activity actually makes me feel a lot better. This is counterintuitive to me considering what everyone says about strengthening exercises. And my gym activity is not your typical go through the motions type stuff. It's pretty hardcore and involves working both anterior and posterior muscles.

So in short, I don't get it.

How can emotional stress cause more issues than physically stressing my body?

What is it that I'm aggravating with emotional stress vs. physical stress?

It boggles my mind.

Hoping somebody can help me break this down. How is my body moving during each of these stress periods and why irritation?

And I'd be curious if anyone else runs into this.

Thanks.

KY