Hi, I was just diagnosed with TOS and a Cervical rib on my right side. I am contemplating surgery, but some of the stories on here are scary!

I am a professional musician and guitarist, and have experienced pain in my right forearm for over two years. It has made playing much more difficult, but not impossible. After 2 years of wrong diagnosis, (everyone assumed it was just tendonitis - and told me to quit playing for 6 months. which is impossible for a guy who plays 6 hours a day, and who's family relies on this as his income) a new doc finally found a cervical rib on that side, and diagnosed me with TOS. I have a nerve entrapment on that side and I will need to have the cervical rib and the first rib removed as well.

My life has been pure hell for the last 2 years, including trying different techniques playing to splints, medication, etc. The pain is certainly nerve related, as I had a negative EMG. My last 17 years have been dedicated to pursuing this music career (as a music teacher, performer, session man, etc. no illusions of 'fame' or anything.) including over $100,000 on a music degree. I suppose I would rather deal with this pain the rest of my life than lose my ability to play if the surgery goes wrong.

The stories about recovery scare me because there is a possibility that I will wake up from surgery and be worse off than before. The doc himself said there is prob a 5% chance of nicking a certain nerve, or making the pain while playing worse or even losing my ability to play altogether.

The doc said more than likely I will be able to start playing again within a few weeks of surgery. But there seems to be a lot of people here that have residual pain long after the surgery - worse than the initial pain that the surgery was for!

I am hoping that in two months I can play pain free - even from the surgery - but I am not seeing a lot of hope for this. My doc is a cardiovascular & thoracic surgeon - not the type of surgeon y'all were discussing.

Any help to ease my head would be appreciated! I desperately need to be pain free and want to continue a career that I have spent so much time and effort on. I don't want to have the surgery if I can't be pain free or there are NEW pains to deal with.

Thanks!

Hello khicks,
I placed a copy of your post in a thread of your own here , so replies to you will be in one place.

Thank you! I look forward to hearing what everyone has to say. I start PT next week, and I am really hoping it helps things out!

Did you have any pain or symptoms before the "acute" ones set in 2 yrs ago?

If all was fairly normal before that time, then the C rib wasn't bothering you back then.

So something must have set this off -

or it could be just a bunch of micro damages- that with really good care and maybe some time off or with many modifications to use, could be turned around.

posture changes over time - shoulders rolled forward/ head forward?
maybe try some of these or ask the PT about them-

ay on foam roll or large towels rolled up tightly - pillow if needed for neck comfort - then just relax with arms at a comfortable position


I hope you are able to find an expert and skilled PT, and same for surgeon if you go that route - skill & experience is a big plus.
Although some will say the 'know" tos but only minimally....

If you can read thru our sticky threads it will help get you up to speed on the basics of TOS so you have a better chance of knowing who is good and who might not be so good to help you.

PT should check for trigger points as well as whole body posture.
* hopefully they won't try to strengthen you right off the bat*
this is often the standard protocol for many PT places.
* pain & symptoms really need to be resolved first*

sticky thread links-
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread125577.html
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread84.html
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread135.html

forgot to add - possible sticky tissues/adhesions due to the sustained postures of long hours playing guitar.
not enough overall motion to keep the blood flowing- blood flow carries away toxins that develop in the body as well as bringing in new fresh blood and oxygen..
Sharon Butler has much info on her website about this and more. explore the articles there.
www.selfcare4rsi.com