Help me TOS Braces
 

Hello. My name is Paul and I have been battling tos and now scapular winging for 10 yrs. I will give a more detailed intro after Friday, but I am seeing someone about getting a brace made up. I am a 4th generation Mason(Union bricklayer) and because of a football injury I tore my labrum and after that I was diagnosed TOS.. I believe it was because of how I healed post-op as I was a professional power-lifter and I now know I must of healed different thus causing tos.
At that time (22)I continued laying brick for 8 yrs. because the pain wasn't to bad. It got the point where I had to stop everything 2 yrs. ago. and the 2 yrs. prior to that I could only work 4 months a year.
This has left me in an horrific mental, physical and emotional state that I wouldn't wish upon anyone.
I have been through 4 invasive surgeries and because of the fact that I over developed pecs, I find pt/ot to be too painful now. I am currently finishing up a degree at Wentworth in Boston and it's all I can do to just take the t in and go to class and then right back home to an ice bath. mmm fun.. I don't have the type that requires a 1st rib resection. And because of all the masonry while there wasn't any blood flow they believe as do I that my primary muscles began recruiting the secondary. Causing those horrid spasms and bands to form. Now it only takes opening a car door to set them off..
The main reason I joined this is to just be able to talk with people who understand what kind of hell these syndromes can bring down on us.
FRIDAY I HAVE AN APPOINTMENT TO GET FITTED WITH A BRACE. THIS IS HUGE BECAUSE I DID HAVE A GREAT RESPONSE TO LEUkoTAPING AT SPAULDING HOSPITAL and I AM ASKING IF ANYONE CAN RECOMMEND A BRACE TO KEEP THE SHOULDER IN IT'S CORRECT ANATOMICAL POSITION AS WELL ASKEEPING MY SCAPULAR FROM MOVING WITH MY ARM. I believe that with the correct brace, I can then continue with my exercises.. With the shoulder braced correctly I am HOPING/PRAYING that I can kick start the correct muscles to fire.
So, if anyone has some info with this type of situation, can u plzz write back.
Bless all of you who have this and I pray that through research and support forums like this we can improve our quality of lives.
Sincerely,
Paul d

p.s. sorry for the caps and my erratic writing. sometimes it's difficult for me to express my thought to paper.--- another gift of TOS

Hello & welcome to our forum. :)

I don't know of any specific type of brace - I think a custom fitted one by someone really knowledgeable should work, I hope it does.
It may take adjustments and readjustments to get it just right.

We did have a fellow with winging scapula that had some ideas -I can't think of his name tonite:confused:..

I can look him up in the morning...if someone else hasn't posted his name or links to his posts.

Hello Paul

I have no ideas on the bracing, but wanted to say welcome......from a fellow Bostonian (well, actually, I'm south shore.......Marshfield)

Are you sure that the PT is having you do work that is specifically for TOS ? I ask because my symptoms got much worse after completing 2 courses of PT with weights/etc. I finally found an excellent PT who has TOS herself and really "gets it."

Best of luck finding relief

Dr Tracy Newkirk in San Rafael, CA has designed a brace for TOS. I was tested with it as were many and it did seem to help. I'm not sure where he is with it but my understanding is that it's still in the development stage with a number of people wearing prototypes. I've been waiting for it for a long time. Dr Newkirk retired but maybe you can find a phone number for him and call to inquire. Also, towelhorse, a member here designed his own brace. It's different than Dr Newkirk's one but you could search his postings and find a lot of info about that one.

I wish you luck with finding the right brace. I'll keep my eyes and ears peeled for feedback to send your way.

thanx
 

Thank u sooooo much Jo. I am sooo confused as to how this site works as I am new to forums. Would it be ok if I could call u because I am about to get a shart load of testing done for a potential scapular winging surgery... So, I kinda need good info quick. well, have a good night and thanks again.
Paul

Here's the link to towelhorse's posts-
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/se...g_searchinfo=1

I haven't had scapular winging myself, so I can really only point you to other posts and threads. I don't have any first hand knowledge of it and my version of TOS is fairly mild now.

Are you able to do gentle stretching { Sharon Butler's RSI book covers TOS- she has a website http://www.selfcare4rsi.com/index.html & book is in libraries},
diaphragmatic breathing & relaxation, whole body posture work {Alexander or Feldenkrais types}?

So ice works best for you?
I did ice my forearms a lot at the beginning, my symptoms were mainly there at that time. Most of us need heat for our neck, upper back and shoulders- cold makes my muscles tighten up now..

oh here's our Drs & PT useful sticky thread -
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread135.html

Hi Finz. I have been to some great tos PT's at Spaulding Hosp. and one other pt that specialized in tos. But It's been awhile since I have seen one. Do You have her name so I can talk to her.
Like yourself, I always ran into a brick wall once the the physical therapy started with weights. I have done about 6 yrs. of extensive research and I feel like I know enough to be a shoulder therapist myself. lol
No really I am glad that I found this forum, but I have a hard time getting used to it. do people trade numbers so they can talk in a more fluid manner as it hurts to type for long periods?
Have a nice day. OK
Paul

Quite a few use a speech recognition software program & a mic - so they don't have to type.
I guess Dragon is the main one out now.

I use to use Via Voice, I keep it around just in case..

some free & trial pgms -
http://www.download.com/Voice-Recogn...-7239_4-0.html
info -
http://www.consumersearch.com/www/so...tion-software/

You do need a decent amount of ram and a decent sound card as well a as good quality mic for the best recognition of your voice.
my motherboards built on sound card did not even see/hear my mic- so I put in my old sound blaster card and it works fine with it.