I have a question to anyone that has had bilateral thoracic outlet first rib resection. I had this procuder done on the right and left side a littel over a year ago and since have had about 4 months of PT I began having pain and numbness accross my chest and down the back of my arms. The work that I did up till a few weeks ago is very physical and caused me much pain and disconfort. My nuroligist has since told me not to lift over 5 LBS and to limit any over head activity. I am very depresed and an looking for any info that you may think will help.

Hi and welcome to the forum,
I haven't had any surgery but some will be along to post soon.
Weekends and Holidays are ususally less active here though.

So you had surgery and went back to tile work?
You may want to read through some of the other threads.
We have a search feature also - above in the blue bar.

Hi,
I had right rib resection on Oct. 25 and left rib resection on Oct. 27. My Dr. doesn't feel that I will be able to go back to work for at least a year. I have a lot of pain across my chest and in my upper arms. I get periodic numbness in my arms and hands. I hope that that is only the nerves healing. I was told not to lift anyhting over 5 pounds for 3 months. I go back to see my surgeon in January, and then he will decide what to do about physio etc. I have full range of motion, and have good grip strength in my hands. I try my best not to post too often as computer use really agravates things.
If you have any questions I will try my best to answer from my experience.

Wishing you a pain free Christmas.
Tracy

Hi and Merry Christmas,
Sorry to have to meet you here during the holidays.
I can only imagine that doing tile would be really hard on a
TOSser. I don't know what kind of work you are doing now
but it sounds like you need to pay attention to what your
body is telling you with the numbness and pain. Unfortunately
even with surgery, the body tends to act up in that same old
painful way, reminding you that you are not done suffering yet.
And yes, absolutely, it is very depressing when pain rears it's
ugly head again and again. See if you can get a reprieve from
doing the work you are doing now. A less taxing job may be what
you will have to do. Discuss with your MD ASAP. Cat

I can empathise with your condition. I too had my procedures done over 2 years ago. the right came out pretty darn good. the left has been the problem causer for me... I too have pain in the chest and numbness and burning sensation down the inside edge of the left arm. As far as what is causing that none of the dr.s i have seen has been able to help me with yet. There has been pt, meds, injections and epiderals.

Doc's thought at first it was nerves healing but after a year they gave that idea up. then they thought it could be a tear in the shoulder causing it. MRA proved that to be out of the question. So what do they try now. As of now they pretty much dont have a clue, mostly just guesses and such. One dr. thinks maybe cut nerve or compression on the nerves still. another dr things part of the rib is still there or still compressions. thing is no two dr's will agree on one thing.

best bet i can say is get back to the dr that did the surgery and tell him what is going on. if they got everything right with it when the surgery was done you should have had little to no problems with it by now. try to get in to see a neurologist to see if theres nerve damage or compressions. Depression with not being able to work will also cause you some physical pain. Ive been off for over 2.5 years now just because of my left arm and chest pains. talk to your primary dr. and see about getting something to help with the depression. I have been told that all the problems i have are treatable, its just finding the right dr. that knows what he is doing with it.

As most of the toser's here will tell you finding one to due that isn't the easiest thing to due, especially if you have already had 1 or both of the surgery's done.. Best of luck to you and if i find out whats causing mine before you do believe me i will pass on this valueble tidbit of information.
chris.

Was there any suggestion to you as to how you got TOS and if it was due to your work - why did they allow you to return to same work?

some have had the rib resection, plus a scalenectomy, plus the pec minor release and some have had to go back for a redo to remove scar tissue, dead tissue or even anomalies and adhesions.

many times there is a posture factor that needs to be addressed too- the shoulders many round forward or the shoulders may be hunched or uneven. could be due to work, prior car accidents, sports injury, falls any old injury that may have changed the way you carry yourself.

our helpful stickys - links for TOS , therapies, anatomy, alternative help, bodywork etc-
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/showthread.php?t=84

I was diagonesed with TOS about 6 to 7 months after a very hard rearend hit that I unfortnatly saw coming and braced my self by pushing my self back into the seat with both my arms hands on wheel and both feet on brakes.
It was not long after starting PT that we thought something was definatly wrong. any pulling or pushing side to side or straight out in front caused pain and if I tryed to do any thing over head it liked to kill me. I tryed to work as long as posible to make mony to afford to take the time off for the surgery.
I tryed to make it till October to finish a big job but only made it till mid September. I could not work with out being in sevear pain and felt like I was getting nothing done.
Now with the numbness and pain I feel about as bad as before the surgery and no answers as to why I am hurting.
the only thing I know right now is I can't I can't I can't and it is realy getting my down.