Humidity and TOS symptoms
 

Does humidity make your symptoms and especially breathing worse, especially for those who have had the first rib resection?

I've had an awful flare with nerve symptoms this week (my arm is on fire) after a period of slow improvement, and noticed the breathing is the first thing to go, which affects everything else. Things around my brachial plexus and shoulder feel chronically inflamed.

This is the first marked shift I've had in a while where I can't pinpoint the cause of a flare this bad.

Have been debating whether to do the pec minor release- have days where I feel I don't need it and days, like today, where I feel like I do!

I hate TOS.

We had very nice weather for a few weeks, and I felt great, then a strong cold/wet front came through and I felt pretty uncomfortable..:(

I'm not sure if it is the humidity or the barometer changes that get me, I live in Oregon so general wet weather doesn't usually hit me as bad as this cold/wet front.

Re: pec minor release, I have had a lot of problems there. Earlier this year I was losing circulation in both my arms which felt weak and empty. I cranked up the pec minor stretches and improved within a couple days.

My current favorite version of the stretch is to lie on a soft yoga bolster and let my arms hang to the sides and then again above my head. 30 seconds each stretch, then 30 seconds rest. Then repeat a few times.

It amazes me how a simple stretch can make such a big difference between being functional and healthy vs. not.

Btw it appears that holding the yogic cobra pose causes my pec minors to get tight. Maybe I'm doing it wrong, or maybe I'm just weird.

Yes, humidity made my sx worse every time, pre and post op. If It rains, I avoid going outside. But cold weather is even worse.

I had a pec minor tenetomy, and I don't think it helped, most likely due to scarring.

I checked the local barometric pressures for the last few days, and it did a big dip on Tuesday, stayed low most of the week (felt draggy & achy) and went up a bit Saturday (felt fine) , but then dipped again last night.
I really felt it last night , achy all over and couldn't sleep.

Glad to hear I'm not alone. Parbie, would you be willing to share a little more about your pec minor release? I'm considering having it done...

I have not had surgery, but heat and humidity dramatically decrease my symptoms. I would seriously consider moving to a location in a few years which offered a consistent sweaty weather pattern. I feel almost "normal" when I'm in this type of climate.

When my breathing was at my worse due to phrenic nerve irritation/compression, I could ruggedly hike in this type of climate without gasping and wheezing were I could barely get up my stairs at home.

We are all so different - yet similar.

Sure. I suspected about my pec minor tightness issues once I finalized my first TOS diagnosis and did tons of research but Dr. Sanders was the first to diagnose it with a pec minor block. However, upon afterthought, I believe that block is too generalized, and could have also meant I have a tight pec major muscle as well and from my current PT it is his opinion that's the case and this guy knows a hell of a lot about TOS (I got lucky finding him). Dr. Sanders and Dr. Annest are all about pec minor tenetomies as found in their first paper and Nospam has commented in my thread about it as well and I 100% agree that a pec minor tenetomy is NOT a good idea. I have not gotten better I have a lot of scar tissue buildup and in fact my right side is worse than my left AFTER surgery.....and its been this way ever since surgery, no relief, just worse sx. I can blame the lack of a successful TOS decompression due to my c-rib not being removed but I can't say that I can blame that on the pec minor compression although if you press even a little there it causes SOOOO much pain and tingling down my arm and into my fingers. In the end I think its best to continue to work on releasing the pec minor through PT rather than surgery....just my opinion.

Swollen hands from heat
 

The worst thing about the heat, to me, is my arms and hands swell. It's not necessarily painful, but very uncomfortable. It seems to make the inflammation worse.