@coco8 The issues that started were that my shoulder came forward and my back rounded which moved my shoulder blades apart and forward as they supported my shoulders which was happening with TOS. I was working at a high stress computer job and holding my arms up to type while looking at the keys. This is bad posture to sustain day after day. So when the body gets stuck like this, it doesn't take a lot to cause an injury. With one shoulder I had turned around from the driver's seat and grabbed and yanked at something in the back seat which caused a slight tear in the shoulder cartilage. A separate occurence was that my other shoulder became unstable in the forward position and was causing pain when I tried to put on a jacket and scoot my arm into the sleeve. An orthopedic doc did a diagnostic MRI and injected gadolinium into the shoulder joint which caused major inflammation and pain in the joint. Just the amount of movement of breathing hurt the joint and I was in constant pain for about 6 weeks before it started getting better, but I was left with a frozen shoulder and went through PT for that. This was separate from having thoracic outlet syndrome, but it did exacerbate the TOS because of limited movement. Unfortunately he didn't believe that I had TOS and told me it was rare, but It had already been diagnosed a couple years earlier. He even had Doppler studies done which showed decreased circulation in my arms with change of position, then he had no explanation for this.

It was a few years later that I found a thoracic surgeon who understood TOS and could treat it who send me to PT and recommended myofascial release therapy. Usually strength training will kick it up and make things worse with the exception of strengthening the scapula and trying to get them back into position, but that also depends on loosening up muscles of the front of the chest so the muscles attached to the scapula can move back and hold that in place. My back doesn't go out, but when things are too tight it pulls my pelvis forward on one side causing that side of my chest to be too tight and it affects my breathing causing trapped phlegm which can lead to infections. I have allergies too, so I have to try to keep all that at bay. What also really helps strengthen my back and correct my posture is horse back riding, just at a walk because I have to compensate for the horse's movements. I own a horse and enjoy this which does help me a lot. I still go to PT for MFR therapy and have been doing this for about 10 years. I had spine surgery and rehab from an ankle fracture in there too which slowed my progress for TOS.