Hello everyone,

I will try to make my story short: 3 months ago I started having pain in my hands, from typing at work. Went to a hand surgeon, he found 2 ganglion cysts, one in each wrist. Decided to operate the right hand first.

2 months after surgery there was no relief, I had the burning sensation in both arms and hands. Went for a second opinion and got diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome. Going for x-rays tomorrow but the dr was pretty confident.

Wondering about recovery time once i start physical therapy. Been pretty depressed about all this and on top of everything my surgeon fired me today for seeking a second opinion.

What a jerk!

Well I would be glad that surgeon is gone... perhaps he didn't like being found out to have jumped into operating on those ganglions prematurely..
but a hand surgeon tends to focus on hands...unfortunately..

On to better docs now that you have a dx.

Usually after x rays , then MRI is ordered just to rule in/out any cervical spine factors.. or extra cervie ribs..

Be sure to ask for expert TOS knowledgeable PT, not just any PT you need the most experienced to do the best for you..
plus there is plenty of self care things you can learn about here.

trigger points, spasms, posture, ergonomics , careful stretching and re balancing your muscles..

check out our sticky threads up near the upper part of the main tos forum page.

Thank you

I am looking forward to learning as much as possible.

The funny thing I got the second opinion from a hand surgeon as well but probably one that thinks outside of the box and is not choking up in his own ego.

I've been out of work for 3 months due to the pain, I'm wondering how long it takes to get some relief to be able to work again.

Thank you again.

Well... If you can find self help things to do that work for you that is the best way to get a head start. Don't wait on wc or drs to help you.

I found some of the best stuff by searching online then I found forums like this one many of the links I collected are in the useful sticky threads.
I was looking for repetitive strain therapies at first but soon my hand/arm symptoms joined up with my neck & shoulder symptoms , so then became a chronic RSI/TOS thing.

You may find that it may take a year or more of good PT/DC , plus many times a day self care focus to turn TOS around. Especially if you are in quite a bit of pain now.

Are you on any meds for pain? OTC or RX?
Don't over do the OTC stuff ,it messed up my gut

Does heat or cold help for you? resting your arms?

A good start point is the yoga corpse pose with arms out at comfortable position and palms up if you can
relax and do diaphragmatic breathing
- http://www.swamij.com/diaphragmatic-breathing.htm

many times a day for best results

These may be helpful too but only if no increase in sx or pain-
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/album.php?albumid=422

If you ever had any accident or falls ,sports injuries etc an expert chiropractor might be worth seeing.
the chiro I found was very helpful for me , did PT type modalities as well as adjustments. He had a low level laser as well as IF stim - I bought an IF stim because it was so helpful - I will buy a low level laser when prices come down more - but it was great too.

Definitely not what I expected to hear but I guess in life we have to adjust to what comes to us. Makes me feel so silly for worrying about stupid little things before this happened.

Yes, resting my arms helps but sometimes they burn so bad no matter what I do. My level of anxiety is probably not helping either.

Are most people "disabled" from this? I mean temporarily. I guess my dr will have more info for me at the follow up app. I will probably need to apply for disability through my employer if I need to be out for that long. Are dr's supportive as far as understanding you are not able to work?

My first surgeon was more than happy to release me to work although I was barely able to brush my hair after the surgery. I only lasted 2 days.

And yes, I do take Vicodin sometimes when it's really bad. Not so much OTC, I already have a very sensitive stomach.

If the pain level is at 5-6 I don't take anything, if it goes to 8-9 then yes.

I was unable to use my hands at all for detail/fine manipulation the first time I had "Bilateral wrist strain" (per dr & wc in 1999) , not fun at all and kinda scary..

I did recover with some months off and then light duty receptionist/office clerking for some more months before returning to a moderate duty job.
After awhile I foolishly asked to go back to my previous assembly job - I did miss my co workers and the more exciting pace and more money too.

I did maintain & even excelled I was kind of type A competitive when it came to production quotas.. and then in my 40's aches & pains started happening. neck, shoulder, arm/elbow then wrist & hands again... then it all joined together .After lots of searching found info on TOS..


If you have a good smart doc they will understand , if not you need to find a tos smart doc, if you do try to keep working & worse too if you get bad PT.

anxiety makes us tense up and forget to breathe deeply so really practice those deep breathing/relaxation tips and try to not stress..

Thank you for all the info.

I'm still wrapping my mind around all of it, going for x-rays today.

My TOS is not vascular, my understanding so far is that the neurogenic one is easier to treat? How serious is this condition in your opinion?

I don't mean to frighten you but you asked a few times so I'll answer. For me, TOS has been pretty disabling. It took a few years to get that way, but I got much worse after surgery.

I was never able to return to work (as an attorney). It's been almost 11 years since I last worked. I barely drive, or cook, or clean my house, no shopping, no laundry, I walk 15-20 minutes on a good day, I'm housebound much of the time.

So, yes, it can be quite disabling. But rather than scare you, let that be incentive to get TOS under control now, if you can. If you respond to rest or staying off the computer or whatever, then do that. You may need to radically alter your life, but it's better to do that and be able to control the pain than to radically alter your life because you're unable to do anything.

Good luck to you. If anyone suggests surgery, make sure you get yourself to the most experienced TOS surgeon you can find. A surgeon -- even an excellent one -- who doesn't have experience with this particular surgery is not good enough.

Take care,
Kelly

Thank you Kelly for your honest response.

I will start the treatment soon and hopefully I will get better. Did your problem start with the hands too and then progressed?