Scalenectomy - I have questions
 

So first off I have TOS from repetitive strain caused by computer work - > now I have injured scalene muscles. thought about posting on the sub-forum but it was inactive.

I will get to the point. a scalene muscle is being cut off - > does it regrow? if so, how? does it grow injured, does it grow healthy? does it even grow back at all? I have hard time to imagine my life will be so great without major muscles supporting my neck. I want healthy muscles - is this the correct option? (I already tried PT)

I would not do surgery unless there was clear proof that it is the only option..
Use our search tool- for scalene , surgery and more-
https://www.neurotalk.org/search.php

And our sticky threads are full of info..
https://www.neurotalk.org/thoracic-o...les-polls.html
https://www.neurotalk.org/thoracic-o...rps-short.html
https://www.neurotalk.org/thoracic-o...o-threads.html

Thank you for the list of surgeons, has anyone heard of surgeon povilas pauliukas?
and I am still interested about the scalene regrowth thing.
cant find info on your search.

Scalene may reattach to other things in the area.. but not always.

How long did you try PT for? A lot of people go for a month, 8 weeks, don't see changes and quit.. believe it or not, it took a long time to get to where you are and it takes a long time, a lot of pain, and a lot of work to get better. Still, it may not work for everyone but I'd exhaust all possibilities before I had someone remove anything.

It took multiple sessions of PT & also expert chiro, plus a focus on doing home care follow up and not working for me to recover from chronic & acute RSI/TOS.

4 months.

2 months of this:
**

then this for 2 months:
**
and something like this:
**

&&more exercises.

results: much better than it was, but:
anterior scalene still tight(the main cause)
CT angio still shows artery compression
still hand pain - brachial plexus compression
still cold hands,
still head problems.

Sure I can keep on trying - but at this point it will just be a miracle to solve it by my own. So yeah, looking for the best surgeon out there. removing this little muscle and then rebuilding it from scratch - is it such a bad idea? why?

Think more in years than months , even longer if you are still working or doing same activities that caused the problem..

Surgery- [ is it such a bad idea? why? ]
these issues have happened to past members..
A possibility of some internal scar tissue that can cause problems after the surgery.
Sometimes a reattachment happens ( in the wrong place) if scalene is only cut , or if only a small section is cut out..

May not solve the main problem..

I know there is a lot of info in the stickies, but they are very informative.. Don't try to absorb it all in a few readings..

**note in edit line**

Second, good point you raised there -
but what makes you think that by doing exercises, my injured scalene tissue that is compressing my veins, arteries & nerves is going to simply heal itself perfectly? that doesn't make a lot of sense aswell since it's physical
structure has been deformed. my idea is this: finding a genius surgeon that will make sure there is no compression, then slowly rebuild the muscle's strength.

I tend to agree with Jo*Mar. Of course we don't know how much pain you are in etc. Each case is different. I probably wouldn't be letting someone go at me with a knife unless I had already had a clot or was at serious risk for one. Since I am not in this category as of now, I won't consider it.

I've also researched on these forums quite a bit and surgery can be very hit or miss even with the very best surgeon. The truth about TOS is there can be many points of compression, although you might feel pain in your scalenes or neck region, it doesn't mean cutting that out will entirely remove the problem. Doctors also can't just rebuild the scalene muscle. Once it's gone other muscles will certainly compensate and that could lead to other issues, or issues on the other side.

Many folks have had issues with the scar tissue after surgery as well.

I would look up TOStinman on YouTube. He's a member here but he is more active on YouTube. He had the scalenectomy done and his symptoms didn't really improve. Of course it could get better.. but in my research it seems like a coin flip.

Either way best of luck. I check up here time to time even though the forum is mostly dead it seems. I don't do Facebook so I don't really want to go on there for groups..