Not to bum you out too, but TOS is insidious if not caught early and proper therapy is received. What is proper therapy? There is none. There is no protocol for this condition as we are all different. What works for some, doesn't work for others and vice versa.

I'm at my 4 year mark with this beast and 2 1/2 years since dx. My life use to be smaller, but it's growing due to manual therapy which I was told to avoid by numerous TOS experts. I'm bilateral neurogenic with compression only in hyper-abducted positions. Compression of your arteries and veins doing the Adson, Roos or other positions does not mean you have arterial or venous TOS.

I have the luxury of not working and have been declared 100% disabled. I can not longer do most of my hobbies and have had to hire people to garden, clean and misc. Working to get better has been a full-time job for me and I spend upwards of 20-25 hours per week doing therapeutic exercises at home. I also receive manual therapy.

Pain scale? The longer you spend in chronic pain your measurement on the pain scale vastly differs. What I use to consider a 7 is now a 3. With medication and me managing TOS rather than other way around, I can usually keep pain in my new 3 range. Giving birth to 2 children without even a Tylenol was easier than some days with TOS.

I've elected not to have surgery as I know to many people like Kelly. I use to think TOS forums were only filled with people who weren't "cured." Sadly, I've seen upwards of 75+ people come to forums with the idea that surgery will cure them and they all returned worse or no better, many with new symptoms like RSD. I've only seen one success story and it was a purely venous TOS case.

On a positive note, you caught your problem early. You need to have an ergonomic analysis of your work station quickly to avoid further harm. Never give up hope, humor and even though it may not be fatal, you will still be fighting for your life.