All of my previous therapists wanted to give me some pain relief then go straight to muscle stretching and therapeutic exercise. Because I had some true disfunctions (multiple rib subluxations and nerve disfunction), the exercising was counterproductive.

Another thing he taught me is that nerves get tight just like muscles and often it is all considered muscle tightness. He showed me areas in which my muscles and joints had proper mobility but my nerves did not.

The fact that lower ribs were pushing up on my first rib from below explained my TOS and explained why the scalene block procedure had failed on me. Dr. Ando was not able to adjust my 1st-rib down which gave the me full confidence I needed to have the rib resection surgery.

I hope everyone can learn from my experience and find someone who can truly evaluate the source of their TOS and design a proper plan for therapy so we aren't all stuck trying to run through a brick wall with fruitless stretches and exercises.