Well for three months now I have been trying to adjust to this problem and well my right arm (right handed) is the one that is freaking killing me...however they now have me doing light duty at work doing data entry numbers all day on the computer and I am now feeling that tingling feeling in my hand/wrist/forearm at times in my left hand. My neck has been getting tighter on that side as well. They just started me on lyrcia and they have me on darvacets. My therapists knows what he is talking about.....but I did a meds strike the other day because I still have no luck sleeping....and I felt like I had been hit with a jack hammer on my right side. Is it because the meds had it masked that it seemed so much worse than what it was before...or does it continue to get worse regardless if you use your arm or not?

Doing data entry is probably the last thing you need to be doing at this point!

data entry is something you should be careful with....i find that typing, etc uses alot of those really fine muscles in my hand and arm and makes it hurt like heck. if possible, make your work station as ergonomic as you can.

the med strike may have been because the meds were/are "masking" the pain. Another way to look at it (I think) is that it shows that the meds are helping somewhat. When people don't understand (or believe they are necessary )why I take so many different meds, I compare it to asthma medication. If they take their medication, ideally it helps them lead a more normal life. Without it, they couldn't do many things they enjoy.

One final thing, then i'm off my little soapbox. Be careful about abruptly stopping medications. Both lyrica and pain meds should be reduced over time if you are trying to not take them. Going cold turkey can have some not so nice side effects.
sorry for rambling, and I hoep you are feeling better.
-dabbo

Hi all,
.
I ask these questions
1. How can the condition start in the first place?
2. How can the condition spread for one side to the other?
3. Why does using ones arms up high cause the symptoms to worsen?
4. Why is sleeping so uncomfortable?
5. Why does sitting make things worse?
6. Why does the affected arm feel heavy?
7. Why do they remove ribs from people who don’t have an extra rib?


My thoughts relating to the Questions above
1) Scapular instability caused by a wry neck, the scalene muscle pinching the nerve (long thoracic nerve LTN) which innervates the serratus anterior, or sustained postures which compromise this vulnerable nerve. This creates a muscular imbalance (the relationship between agonists, synergists and antagonists causing pectoralis minor syndrome)
2) The affected person is no longer able to share the load of lying on either side equally, therefore the non TOS side has increased load when sleeping. Combine this with chest breathing (paradoxical breathing) and the ribs are now placing additional pressure on vulnerable nerves which supply scapular stabilizers on the opposite side also. Compromised nerves become more vulnerable.
3) Unstable scapula causes shoulder muscles to work inefficiently. The muscle imbalance worsens.> Pec minor syndrome.
4) Chest breathing is hard work, gravity works on shoulder girdle in a different way when lying down, brachial plexus is compromised if you lie on the unstable shoulder girdle, other nerves are compromised.
5) Additional pressure on diaphragm when sitting exacerbates chest breathing. LTN compromise and therefore weaker scapular stability
6) The compromise to the LTN causes muscular imbalance> muscles work inefficiently.
7) Because they (the specialists) know that ribs are part of the problem, if they would just realise that stopping chest breathing and organising a method of sleeping which means that the rib cage isn’t causing the situation to perpetuate is an easier option

Thanks for your time, regards Towelhorse