cervical rib=>TOS
 

hi everyone. I am 19 years old, and already at the end of my rope. last year my doctors discovered that i had an extra rib. they came to this after an x-ray because of my complaing of constant back,neck and shoulder pain. I was then sent to physical therapy which did nothing except cost money. I was then sent to a neurologist where i was told there was nothing wrong with me. then i developed numbness and tingling in my neck and back. they then precceded to put me on muscle relaxers which only made me sick. the newest symptom is losing my grip in my left hand and dropping things. I am a college nursing major and work as a cashier. It is embarassing when i'm ring and drop things that i thought i had a grip on. I am so fustrated. Any help would be appreciated. I don't know what kind of doctor to see and what doctor will believe that these feelings i feel are real and are not going away.
Thanks:mad:

hi welcome
 

hi and welcome.
sorry to have to say welcome but you are in the right place! Sure sounds like tos to me. I am also a nurse and lifted a patient up with my arm under their armpit off a toilet and wrecked my neck back and shoulder only to discover cervical ribs as well. I've vascular and neurogenic tos.

Where are you located this will help to find the right docs for you. A neurologist is a must to do an EMG. You also may need a physiatrist to get a diagnosis and them to do the tests that will confirm tos. There are a few.....alll of this is a syndrome and is a diagnosis of exclusion.

You may need to see a vascular surgeon (who did my rib surgery....had the first one removed to make room for the vascular structures to flow) Help vascular not neuro or muscular. Had six months pain free then physio wrecked the surgery.

enough about me.
you will need a veinogram to see if you are vascularly comprimised as well.

these are only a few of the tests to see what is going on.
there are post it notes at the top of the forum that tells you what state has what doctors or province if you are in canada if you are I may be able to help. I am in Calgary was in Hamilton (close to toronto)

somebody else may help if they are in your state or province.....neeed more info form you.

take care and again welcome you are in the right place....VENT away let it all out!!!!!!

take care,
love and hugs,
Victoria:hug:

Hello snookies61! I just wanted to say Hi and welcome you to NeuoTalk.

As a recently retired nurse (must be the job) I am also having tests at the moment for TOS. Welcome again. I'm glad you found us and do let us know if there's anything we can do to help you.

Hi snookies61,
I'll post our useful sticky thread for you , in case you haven't seen it yet- tons of info links, articles , anatomy pictures, therapy & treatment info, videos of triggerpoint , posture, massage.
post # 1 is the crash course of TOS links:D
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread84.html

I did find a very good chiropractor that uses a variety of therapies for my treatment - Nimmo/triggerpoint /myofasial release, Ultrasound, low level laser/cold laser, infra red light, Interferential stim & adjustments :).

These all help to reduce the pain and muscle spasms for me, and for at home I have a far infra red heating pad and a EMS {muscle stim} and my foam roll and inflatable exercise ball for stretching and posture work.....

Do you have any swelling or muscle wasting of your hand/arm?

You do really need to find a very qualified dr and not one that just says the know about TOS- and only go to very expert and knowledgeable PT persons .
Unless something acute brought on the pain and sx and it possibly can be treated with expert therapy & posture/bodywork - surgical removal of the extra rib is needed.
But you really need to get to an expert - one that will do the in depth evaluation appt and order the proper tests.
It takes a lot of calling and double checking to find a good dr - unless our Drs & PT list has some near your area.
here-
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread135.html

Jo extra rib removal
 

Hi,
Jo, I am curious do they take the extra rib out in the US??????
In Canada they take the first rib as it is considered too dangerous to take the rib off the spinal cord. Just curious please don't take offense!!

take care all.
love and hugs,
Victoria

Hi Snookies....sorry you found your way here, but now you will be able to get support from a lot of people who have lots of knowledge etc on this forum. They are great.

On another point ----seems there are many nurses affected? I am another!!

It seems like it is the part of the medical community that does the "heavy lifting" that is affected. I was a paramedic. That isn't the reason I developed TOS,, but it is a coincidence.
:):D

Sorry just saw this question.
I'm not an expert on the extra cervical rib situation at all :)- but I think they aren't always removed , usually though, if symptoms are constant , worsening, muscle wasting or vascular is involved. And also if {expert} PT cannot/does not make for improvements in symptoms.

More Ideas for you.
 

Hi Everyone,

I saw this question and I had to respond. I haven't responded to this board for quite awhile.

I have TOS, RSD and Fibromyalgia. When I was diagnosed with TOS, I was also xrayed for an extra rib. Yes, they would take it out if it was causing problems. Of course, it's frustrating to have so many tests, but they are necessary. A vascular surgeon will do the specific tests that would show if you have TOS. I think you just haven't see the right person yet. You may also want to see a back/neck specialist. You could have something going wrong in your back/neck that is causing your symptoms down the arm.

To protect yourself, I would be careful and get more than one opinion. I would see a few vascular surgeons/specialists and see what they think. I would also try the other therapies out there that are listed below. Jo55 had some great advice.

Welcome to the community. There are many knowledgable people here and can point you in the right direction.

First thing you should do if you have not is SEARCH online the abundant info now availible on Cervical Ribs. I had one each side with quite different symptoms: left one was low and produced vascular and nerological problems even involuntary jerking of the arm about a half dozen times, the right one had broken at some time and was pushed up and made a bump just to the right of my neck and was very painful at times. The more active I was, the more problems I had until they kept getting worse so I had them removed. That has stopped most symptoms and I now play vollyball 3 times a week at 72 y/o; they are weak from their history and age but work pretty well now. Post if you have questions; good luck!