Dear Jo*mar,

thanks a lot for searching.....

No, the trigger point shock wave therapy is different.

http://www.richardwolfusa.com/no_cac...-wellwave.html

You have to look that up since there seem to be different devices available. No, they don't put anything on you. The device is led over your back - or whatever - and it feels as if a jackhammer is running over your body. . It pounds like a pneumatic stapler and sends the shock waves. You feel really relaxed afterwards. You are right, she has increased the cycles per second and maybe that was a bit too much for me.

Now I have to talk to the doctor again and find another - hopefully better - PT who is specialized in rib mobilization.

As to Sharon Butler, I'll restart the program on Saturday and will change the shoulder circling to the shoulder shrugs.

Hi Jo*mar,

So your road to recovery looked something like this:

-- Butler stretches.
-- Chiro.
-- Trigger points treated by self and chiro (SCM & scalenes)
-- Stuff from http://www.bodymindresources.com/Class1/Class1lab.htm
-- PT mobilized your first ribs & clavicles.
-- No surgery.

Did I miss anything?

Btw I noticed that the bodymindresources.com site has a starting page for TOS:

http://www.bodymindresources.com/car...acictheory.htm

pretty close - I did have 3 sets of PT sessions during the work comp part early on with the acute portion of my RSI/TOS.
Each session helped up to a point, and until I messed myself up doing heavy project at home...

I also used magnet wrist bands when I had severe RSIs (bi lateral wrist strain was the dx then) in 1999 along with MSM & a few other vitamins & supplements.
So in 2003 for the RSI/TOS combo I brought those things back into use again.
Also got a magnet necklace but it got heavy and irritating as the spasms and scalene tightness increased- same with the wrist magnet bracelets.

other things-
stopped doing almost anything with hands/arms for awhile at first as I had pain & weakness with any rotating (pronation) of the wrists.

nutrition
fluids
diaphragmatic breathing deep= belly breaths
my forearms were very affected at first so lots of ice/heat & rest for those -- but that was mostly before the whole upper body TOS stuff came into play

Hi everyone,

I have tried Sharon Butler's program, but I got into a lot of pain even with the slightest stretch. My problem was I couldn't stretch at all, not even a gentle stretch.

I highly recommend Peter Edgelow's protocol. Its a very gentle approach and his technique helps relieve the Neuro vascular entrapment with a lot of breathing exercises mostly lying down and walking for Cardio. Self management for Trigger point pain relief and first rib mobilization with the help of a pinkie ball on stick. I have to mention here that the breathing exercises are also meant to mobilize the rib over a period of time. Breathing is that powerful, I have experienced it myself.

I have been under his care for about 4 to 5 months since I developed scar tissue after a scalenectomy in Feb 2010.
I see him twice a month and I have been greatly improved. I am also taking Gabapentin (neurontin) 3 times a day. His Therapy and the Gabapentin together has worked wonders for me.
He is in Hayward California. He also has a CD and a DVD. You can buy his program. For those of you in America, he may have a trained therapist in your area.
I personally think he is amazing. He is also writing four chapters of a text book on Thoracic outlet syndrome that is going to be published in September.
I don't need any manual therapy or machines anymore. You do need a good chunk of time everyday to follow his protocol in the beginning, ( the reason why I haven't been on the forum in a long time)

Good luck finding the right treatment that works for you. Hope you feel better soon.

stos2

Thanks, stos2! When you said "Self management for Trigger point pain relief and first rib mobilization with the help of a pinkie ball on stick," did you mean that was part of the Edgelow protocol and instructions? Or things that you added?

I had trouble with his web site linking to two PDFs that were broken links, and also finding a web site for any company named "Medical Dynamics" that mentions his kit. I'll start calling on Wednesday.

Edgelow "tool kit" Devices - equipment

[# Devices:
(1) Air pillow
(2) Rib mobilizer (this is the ball on a stick)
(3) 6-inch x 36-inch foam roll -- same as foam roll I use
(4) 3-inch x 18-inch foam roll
(5) 65 centimeter gymnastic ball --- similar to exercise ball I use
(6) 8-foot stabilization belt
(7) double triangular foam
(8) single triangular foam
(9) handheld thermometer
(10) thumbometer
(11) pressure biofeedback unit ]
http://www.edgelow.com/

An older thread with more info-
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/sh...ad.php?t=22176

One thing I forgot to mention is, I never try to hold a stretch. When I started the Sharon Butler program, early on, I realized holding a stretch just didn't work for me. It always flared me up. So I learned to just, go to the pain and away, three or four times and not try to hold it.

That's one reason Intu-flow is working well for me, you never hold a stretch. You just go to the edge of the pain or tension. It was an obvious transition for me.

I have done the Edgelow Protocol in the past but I'm making better progress with the Sharon Butler and Intu-flow stuff. One thing I noticed about the Edgelow Protocol is, he always talks about moving the nervous system, but he doesn't talk about muscle fascia and adhesions. If you're really tight like me, you have to get the joints moving before you can move the nervous system.

This Edgelow Protocol sounds very sensible and seems to describe everything I experience. I would happily buy that kit but..... definitely no therapist here in Germany has ever heard of this method and I am not sure whether they are willing to get familiar with the method.

Do you think one can do the excercises alone?

At the moment I don't do the Sharon Butler exercises since my pain gets worse. Maybe it is just too much together with the trigger point shock waves. I am still after this MR-Neurography and it costs less than I had suspected (about 580 dollars). Maybe the health insurance is willing to pay for it. Have to discuss this with the doctors.

Especially after I have slept at night or taken a nap, the pain is very severe.

Do you also experience this?

Whats the link to order sharon butlers book ?

Her book or her TOS program??

[Conquering Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and Other Repetitive Strain Injuries: A Self-Care Program ] her book covers many RSI problems - a web search to compare prices, or find it locally is a good way to do that


Her website w/ TOS and other programs is here - http://www.selfcare4rsi.com/

oh she has book info on her site also
http://www.selfcare4rsi.com/products.html