I have had 2 trigger point injections at my left clavicle because the muscles in my neck on that side get so tight it is very painful and makes it difficult to turn my neck to the left. It seems they have helped. I have TOS from a work injury made worse by multiple surgeries at my left clavicle and also a staph infection at that site from the operating room in 2000 leaving me worse off than before all the surgeries! Surgery is not always the answer!

Are you able to get some hands on massage or trigger point work to help release the muscles along with the injections?
Can you do some very gentle stretches and range of motion without it reactivating the flare ups?

I have found that posture awareness and working towards better posture for my upper body does help.
If I let my shoulders roll forward or let my head jut or tilt forward - my neck muscles & upper back pay for it.
I can feel the tightness start in my pec muscles too- they will shorten and tighten and the back muscles will lengthen and weaken.

useful threads/posts -
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/post87845-18.html
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread55183.html
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread43297.html

Ditto Jo*mar


I love my pineapple disk twist exerciser my therapist got me for Xmas. It helps with balance and posture. It also is helping to strengthen my stomach muscles so I can better support my back. Working on my core. I can actually buttom pants that I couldn't for yearssssssssss now.

Then, placing the long dressing mirror at the side of my work station as my "Posture Police" helps remind me when I'm slouching. I catch my nose and head tilted and forward so much, I have a constant battle with that. I also use the oversize tennis ball at T12-L1 area and 1 Miracle Ball at the L5 area, to help me stay in a better seated posture.

and inhale water, vitamins, relaxation techniques of some kind, yoga to the extent you can or gentle glides. Used to use the alignment back board. It helped but just kind of out of sync with that now. May start that back, though.

Oh. and the Kinesio tape is for posture retraining too.

I also found that keeping my upper body fleece warm cuts down on my pain level. interesting...


I guess I seem to try something, get what I can and move on. Some things I depend on daily still, but I'm working on getting my core stronger. We have to, if at all possible.