I am 15 years old and was recently diagnosed with TOS. I was a competitive volleyball player my whole life but I had to quit a year ago to what i thought was regular shoulder pain. It took three years and many doctors until i was finally diagnosed. I did PT for half a year with little results. My doctor recently recommended me for surgery and i am scheduled to have it in a few weeks.

As I am still in high school I wanted to know how long i'll be out and how much the surgery will impact my ability in school (ie How long will it take until to take notes/type papers? How long will it be until i can exercise or play sports?)

Also, I've never had surgery before and i want to know how painful it will be. What were your experiences post op? Im really nervous, but I can even lift heavy stuff and i don't want to have to deal with it for the rest of my life.

LittleBlonde: I was a competitive volleyball player too . What type of TOS were you diagnosed with? Who is your surgeon and what types of things were they having you do in PT?

Please do a lot of reading here, to learn as much as you can before your surgery. You may change your mind, or not.
But knowing it may or may not fix the problem is something to be aware of.

Please share more of your symptoms so we can help you with the best info possible.

If you do have surgery please make sure your parents search for the best surgeon in your area. This is a complicated surgery so an expert & skilled doctor is the very best way to go.
It's not a time to let a inexperienced surgeon practice on you.

An advanced PT person that will make adjustments in your PT plan is very important too- they have to listen to what is working for you and what is not. Some times just a change of PTs or the place , or a different style really can help.
I was pretty messed up w/RSI/TOS for approx 2.5 yrs and with very good PT, chiro & lots of self/home care things I am back to 85%, but you are young & an athlete so you won't have to deal with middle age stuff...

Please read thru the links below for a crash course of info

DOCTORS & PTs List and saved PT info threads -
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread135.html

Our Useful Links - Websites, Articles & Polls -
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread84.html

LittleBlonde,

Sorry to hear that you're dealing with this at such a young age.

Questions for you:
Do you have a cervical rib?
What form of TOS do they think you have?

Recovery varies person to person. People who are diagnosed with vascular (arterial or venous) TOS, tend to recover quicker and better than those with the neurogenic form. Also, how people acquire TOS seems to be indicative of how they fair after surgery.

My experience: TOS arose after a car accident. I couldn't use the arm from day one and was diagnosed at 9 months post MVA with TOS. It continued downhill from diagnosis despite conservative treatment (conservative treatment made me worse). I opted for surgery 10 months later. I stayed off work for 5 1/2 weeks and returned to work on a reduced schedule over a two week period. Post op pain gradually decreased and I was able to do more and more with the arm. It took a good 1 1/2 years for my hand function to fully recover. My situation is not common as it arose due to a MVA and not through repetitive motion.

Reading this I can see its a long journey!
I'm 3 weeks today post op..... scar tissue is very tight now and hard feeling. I was just wondering how long did it take for your swelling to go down? I have scars 2and1/2" wide above and below my collarbone that have sealed well but tissue feels hard and raised still.
Did you use Bio oil, if so how long before you put creams or oils on after the dressings came off?
Any advice would be great!
I'm extremely anxious at the the moment as I have this all to come again on my left side for VTOS!!!!!!!
I must admit that my willpower is certainly being tested. My mantra is Patience, Posture, Positive.
Thanks ( from a sore and slightly grumpy/frustrated ) SD38