Thoracic Outlet Syndrome

[cind]

I've recently been told by a Doctor I may have this syndrome altho its a difficult thing to diagnose. Is there anyone out there who has this or can give me any information about symptoms...prognosis..surgery etc??????

[zuzu8]

Cind,
I'm sorry you have this, but congratulations to your doctor(s) for a proper diagnosis...Thoracic Outlet Syndrome is pretty rare and so often mis-diagnosed.
Intensive physical therapy usually works...surgery would be the last resort in most cases.

With moderator's permission to post, here is a link to MEDLINE's website (the National Institutes of Health) and the page on TOS with info from the Cleveland Clinic and others. The board no longer makes links clickable, so you'll have to copy and paste it into your address bar:

http://search.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/query?DISAMBIGUATION=true&FUNCTION=searc h&SERVER2=server2&SERVER1=server1&PARAME TER=thoracic+outlet+syndrome&x=14&y=14

Good luck,

zuzu xx

[tishea]

Thoracic Outlet syndrome can be caused by tightness in your pectoralis muscles of your chest...I would look up on the net some stretches for these muscles to loosen things up. I am not saying by any means that this is the cause of your trouble, it's just a common cause for some people. It can also be caused by some muscles in your neck called the scalenes. It might be helpful to try stretching these out too...by looking those up on the net too. Again, these are just some common causes for the syndrome and I am certainly not trying to diagnose anything. Make sure that your doctor thinks it's okay to do these stretches before you go ahead hard core with them. Hope you are well soon or have some relief

[michmcdougal]

Have you experienced any type of facial tingling or pressure along with this problem? I have, in fact this is how it started, but my neurologist doesn't seem to think it is related to the thoracic outlet.

[cind]

michmcdougal,
I have never had any of the symptoms you're talking about...the tingling in the face etc. My symptoms are in my arms and shoulders. I hope you find the root of the problem. It can be very frustrating. Good luck