I was involved in a car accident Nov 09. My life has not been the same since. An 18 year old ran a stop sign and T-boned me and totaled both cars. Eventually after symptoms started to appear had Cervical Fusion Surgery C5-6-7 at end of March. About 7 weeks later I was diagnosed as having thoracic outlet, both sides, right side worse. After much thought I decided to have my right side done 3 weeks ago. My brother had to have both of his sides done over the last 20 years which helped in my decision to do it. My surgeon, who was his on his last side done, is one of the top in the area. I did not expect the pain, I was in afterwards, and the slow recovery. I am concerned that the TOS pain has really not gone away. My doctor seems to also be a little bit concerned but my brother did not get relief right away, so I am hoping with time the TOS pain will go away. The surgical pain and numbness is in armpit and back of arm (tricept), I am told, is normal and eventually will get better. That I can accept, but am still concerned that the TOS pain is still there, arm and hand. I was a mess according to the surgeon and he had done many first rib resection surgeries. Hopefully time will heal this to my satisfaction. Have not had PT yet. Hope that helps to although people I have heard have had mixed results.

Hi Kenn,

Give it time and be very careful of quick reflexive movements. {like trying to catch a plate or glass- let it fall}

also riding in cars - have driver be cautious and smooth so you don't have to tense up - and to avoid any more accidents or close calls

You had extra traumas going in with the previous wreck and fusion - so you might have some added scar tissue happening.

Aim for slow and steady progress.

Up in the useful sticky thread {green circle icon w/arrow} are some links to our surgery & symptoms polls that might be helpful for you. Possibly post #18 or 20 if I recall.

Recovering from this surgery is probably the bigest challenge I have ever had. Much more so that the cervical fusion I had in March. I started physical therapy a week ago. Still have numbness in armpit area and some TO pain in arm and hand and muscle weekness. I have been told in some instances that can take months to resolve. I guess that will be the case with me. My biggest concern was I recently noticed I was having some winging of my shoulder blade. This is probably why I have so much discomfort in my back. I asked my therapist about this yesterday and after he looked at this he did not think it was that pronounced. I was concerned that I have nerve damage from the surgery and this could be a long term concern. The therapist started me on special arm raising excersises to work on the scapular muscles to retrain and strengthen them. I also am now concentrating on posture and trying not to let my shoulder balde sort of dislocate as my therapist says. My range of motion has improved considerably. My wife thinks I have progressed well in that area. Just allot of pain from surgery and PT that I deal with.
Still use pillows, ice , heat, whatever.