Hi everyone... Have read a lot of things on this site over the past couple of years, it's been a great resource for me in dealing with TOS on both sides of my body.

Quick back story: I'm a male in my early-mid 20's, former college athlete. First noticed symptoms in August of 2011. Went through the usual runaround (multiple docs, MRIs, EMGs, etc) for a few months before our head trainer/doc sent me to Stanford hospital for some tests. Ultimately, through botox relief, positive manual tests, etc, thought TOS was the right diagnosis. After learning more about it, I could tell it's what was going on. Everything suddenly made perfect sense.

Anyway... had first rib resection (I don't have cervical ribs) and scalenectomy on my right side at Stanford in July of 2012. Compared to what I thought it was going to be, recovery wasn't bad at all (I feel blessed for that). Instant relief from what was happening beforehand. The only thing that wasn't fixed was some scapular winging I was dealing with (and still kind of am). That being said, I'm still noticing some neck tightness on my surgery side, and I think I have some left over scar tissue there.

I know scar tissue is "normal", but does anyone have any tips or thoughts on internal scar tissue 1 year post op? Did a ton of massage, some graston, etc. to break things down early on, but haven't done a lot since. Reading can be a dangerous rabbit hole, but I've seen a lot of people talking about scarring near the brachial plexus region post-op. Would love to break that up and make some more progress on fixing my winging problem (it's getting better). Anything I can do?

Its my understanding that winging is either due to muscle imbalance or injury to the long thoracic nerve. For muscle imbalance-- do scapular stabilization exercises. A good PT should be able to give you exercises for it. To test for injury to the nerve, EMG studies are usually used.

Regarding scar tissue - its also my understanding that scar tissue continues to form/solidify for the first 18 months. You might try ART (Active Release Technique) to break up of the scar tissue. Like Graston, a chiropractor will usually do this for/with you.

Rick Mehafy - is good chiro in the bay area (redwood city) that does alot of myofascial release type work.

thanks for posting -- and good luck with your continuing recovery....

I'm at the 1.5 year mark (nearly) for my surgery and still notice some of the neck tightness. Massaging my scar and neck, and stretching to the side helps me, as does a heat pad first thing in the morning. Some days are better than others...

I'm about to have my other side done, and I was wondering if you could share a bit about what your recovery was like, as it sounds like it went wonderfully for you. I'm both an athlete and musician and would be interested to hear how you feel like it affected your activity ability post-op. My first side went well but was miserable, as I had a ton of burning nerve pain beforehand. This time, I "just" have compression so I'm hoping the recovery will be easier. I'm trying to be optimistic, and hearing your story would be helpful and inspiring!

You can do a forum search for "scar tissue" if you want to find older posts/threads. a whole site search link is in my siggy.

I'd say if you were doing well for the most part and sx begin to increase again, scar tissue may be a factor, or perhaps postures/uses and/or slipping into bad habits.

I would get back into any good self care plan, or therapy that worked well for you before.

Some people just seem to produce more of it than others also, so that might be a factor also..

Thanks... I've had a couple EMGs, the last one was a while back. Nothing abnormal showed up for LTN. Is it possible that if I just overstretched it, that nothing abnormal would show up on the EMG?