So I had my follow up appointment today and the x-rays did not show anything abnormal. I do not have a cervical rib. Yay to small victories?

He also referred me to a surgeon that has a lot of experience with TOS which I will be seeing next week. I guess we've made some progress but still no plan of attack yet.

Meanwhile my pain is sky rocketing because of stress.

Look on you tube for some relaxation/stress relief videos, they can be very helpful and free...

Yes, I really need to calm down...it looks like I've spent this month just trying to get diagnosed and it's frustrating.

But since there is nothing I can do until next week then I will try to relax.

And Jo...this doc actually told me it takes a while to heal from this so I guess he is a good doc. I also liked that he sent me to someone specialized instead of trying to treat me himself.

I mentioned this forum and he said, well good...it's nice to have support and inform yourself. I was expecting some sort of scolding I guess, for "reading stuff on the internet"

I'm glad u were able to get some answers. I'm also glad he was able to send u to someone who knows about this. I hope u will try and relax, and just enjoy every day. When u r worrying, u are adding more stress to your body. So enjoy the victories u receive, and don't focus on the problems. Always remember, the thing u focus on the most, good or bad, u will give power to.

Keep us updated. Have a bless day.

Try a deep tissue massage. I have spent about $5k on massages over the past 10 years. Definitely deep tissue not that pansy Swedish stuff, that is like teasing you, you will be more stressed after a sweedish,lol. Deep tissue - lost of pressure!

I'm scared to try anything now, worried it will make me worse. But it does sound very tempting.

We've all had that problem and frankly you just have to suck it up and start trying things. And sometimes you have to try different versions of things before you know for sure. The first chiro I saw didn't help so I wasn't planning on seeing another. Someone convinced me to see theirs and it was helpful.

Over time you will build up a list of things that help and things that hurt. This is where I'm at. My TOS has greatly improved. I'm not practically crippled like I was in 2011, and I can work full time. But I'm not perfect either.

I couldn't have improved if I didn't start somewhere and keep trying.

Your early stops are:
-- Stress relief
-- Stretches
-- Posture
-- Get first rib down with help of PT or chiro
-- Learning more about the condition, anatomy, etc.

These have already been covered in various posts here.

Another thing that helped me early on, was to give myself the evening off from TOS. In other words, two hours before I went to bed, I would stop thinking about it, stop researching it, etc. I had already done enough that day and was going to do more the next. I needed that break so I could destress.

Good luck.

Nelly,
Breathing, slow and long always helps counteract the anxiety that the pain causes me.

Thank you Chroma, that is indeed great advice.

I have been reading this forum all day now, def time to destress. I will wait until the app on Thursday to make the app with chiro, PT, etc as that is when I'm seeing the TOS specialist I was referred to.

Stress has been a big factor, frustrations with HR, workmans comp, medical insurance etc.