[thunder92]

I have been very lucky, and have progressived quite well this last month. My medical massage person said I have the tightest scalene muscles he has ever felt. I have been stretching like crazy and my symptoms have gotten to the point where I can actually work out now. Everything but chest I guess. When I do pushups etc.... I get a lot of pain and numbness for the next couple days. My pt told me to concentrate on upper back and hamstring exercises. Why does this happen?

BTW: If you are not stretching daily you are doing yourself a diservice. It makes such a big difference with just 15minutes a day.

[Jomar]

I found some videos that show /explain the muscles/bones connections used in doing pushups.
Those are many of the very muscles/bones that are right in the BP area - straining them or enlarging them is going to make for more problems.
push up videos-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpzES...elated&search=

I think I'd try to find a gentler way to exercise those muscles.

[MelissaLH]

Originally Posted by thunder92

\I have been stretching like crazy and my symptoms have gotten to the point where I can actually work out now.

If you don't mind my asking, what stretches are you doing?

I've gone through stages of stretching my scalenes every day with minimal improvement, as well as stages of stretching that caused major flareups, so am really interested. Even Sharon Butler's program was too much for me; rolling the head back is a no-no for people w/neck probs. (I lost the natural curve in my neck after a hyperextension neck sprain.) My PT recently let me know that in that position, your facet joints knock together and irritate things, so any stretching that involves tilting the head backward and rolling it should be avoided, at least for me.

Opps, I deviated from my question. So what stretches are you doing???

[InspectorD]

Many moons ago before my initial TOS symptoms first manifested I used to bench press 325lbs I have no doubt that pushing myself to lift more than my body was designed for contributed to my TOS. I remember having pain in my shoulder whenever I would lift more than 130lbs, but I ignored the pain. Now I wish I would have listened to my body. My advice to you… I would stick to yoga; there are plenty of positions like downward dog that put resistance on the chest. Doing pushups is just asking for trouble.

[dabbo]

Thunder- I'm not familiar with your entire situation, but I would guess that pushups are just a bad idea- too much strain on the involved muscles. Like InspectorD, I pushed myself to lift too much ( I weighed 160 and was benching ~245 ). I'm sure that has contributed to this situation. Your PT probably wants you to strenghten your back to help open your chest (if that makes sense) but, keep in mind, i'm no medical professional.

[gibbrn]

Hi,

perhaps your pec muscles are compression vessels or nerves in your arm/or BP. I also now you will be using your intercostals which can interfere with your traps if they get too tight the traps can take over.....????

take care
Victoria

[thunder92]

Melissa, I just do any sort of stretch possible. Legs, hips, shoulders, back extensions,chest and neck. You do have to be careful with the neck. I found my situation was way worse because of a forward head posture. Mainly from work and sleeping a little upright to help with acid reflux. The best neck exercises for me are : touching ear to shoulder. And the chin tuck exercise. Hope this helps you. I stretch everyday for 15minutes. Sometimes I do 5-10 before bed too.

[mtnmom]

I dont know what kind of TOS you have, but I have venous TOS and I was told by my trainer and in PT to stay away from all weight lifting (including push ups) that would develop upper chest muscles as it can lessen the amount of room the Thoracic Outlet needs to work properly, compressing the nerve bundle and/or pinching shut veins and arterys. I can lift weights for everyhing else, if I want to. I am not and was not a body builder or anything, but have found in the months since my surgery that I can still be in perfectly good shape and easily avoid pec muscle workouts.

Good luck!

[mtnmom]

One more thing... While we are on the subject... This article was in the NY Times magazine this spring:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/25/ma...70&oref=slogin

[Jomar]

I was amazed to notice during times of good PT and since then with the chiropractic treatments, my forward head posture and the "hump bump" at the T/C spine connection has improved much.

Melissa-
I found that i couldn't get good or complete release with stretches because of active and then latent trigger points.
these show them nicely-
Triggerpoints and referred pain and stretching:
http://www.pressurepointer.com/pain_reference_chart.htm
http://www.triggerpointbook.com/index.html
http://triggerpoints.net/_sgg/m1m1_1.htm

Also for a time my top ribs were stuck in a raised position due to previous spasms.
I finally found an advanced PT {teacher of PT} and he did the top rib mobilization and they both dropped a half inch - and it was an amazing change instantly and many of the pesky sx went away immediately.