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Need advice.
I was in a car accident in July of 2020. First symptoms began 2 days later. Severe difficulty breathing. Muscle spasms in front right chest. Symptoms were most severe at night. Could not lay down and walked and paced my house in tears for months.
The VA at the time treated me symptomatically- I did not have civilian insurance at the time.
MRI showed damage to T spine pro dominant at T9 touching root ganglion. Protrusion/Extrusion throughout spine along with C spine issues from a previous C6-C7 surgery
Months later-after failed care with the VA -I received insurance and contacted Vanderbilt. By that time I could barely function and was unable to lift my right arm and lost complete grip of my hand. There was pain in my shoulder and pain in front right going under right arm through back
I was sent to a Vascular Surgeon who determined I had Thoracic Outlet and surgery was done removing 1st rib and scalene muscles.
Although this did NOT stop 🛑 my pain even after steroid injections for what now was also occipital neuralgia
Everything continued to get worse
After recent CT scan it revealed possible Parsonage Turner. I am now unable to work and can barely function
I have difficulty breathing at times, severe pain in my chest, muscle spasms to name a few.
Any advice or guidance would be appreciated. I have the same pain I have had since the accident. I am exhausted and don’t know who to trust now and/or what to do?
Replies to "Need advice. I was in a car accident in July of 2020. First symptoms began 2..."
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@lia1970 I wanted to welcome you to Connect. If I understand correctly, you had cervical spine surgery, then later had the accident in 2020 that further injured your spine at T9 and developed thoracic outlet syndrome from this accident to be later identified and treated surgically at Vanderbuilt. I am a cervical spine surgery patient and I have thoracic outlet syndrome. My doctors have been treating my TOS non-surgically with physical therapy with myofascial release. Undoubtedly, from your injuries and surgeries, you will have scar tissue, and scar tissue internally in the fascial layers. MFR can treat internal scar tissue with gentle stretching. MFR gets the body better aligned and can reduce pain by releasing tight tissue. It has done a lot for me for TOS and helped me have a successful cervical fusion. I still continue to do fascial stretching when tightness comes back again..
Here is our discussion on Myofascial Release.
> Groups > Neuropathy > Myofascial Release Therapy (MFR) for treating compression and pain
— https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/myofascial-release-therapy-mfr-for-treating-compression-and-pain/
There is a provider search at http://mfrtherapists.com/
It sounds like you have been through a lot. Personally for me MFR therapy has worked wonders and given me back more normal functions. TOS does affect my breathing because it makes one side of my chest tighter and that can affect the lung on that side because it doesn't move as much, so then phlegm can stagnate from my allergies and asthma and easily turn into an infection. With your description of severe difficulty breathing, has anyone tested the functioning of the nerves that send their impulses to your lungs? There are patients who have lost functioning of the phrenic nerve and have a paralyzed diaphragm and there are some discussions here on Connect about this topic.
How is the functioning of your arm and hand now? Did the surgery for TOS help that? What are you doing to treat your pain? Are you still having trouble breathing, and does that get better or worse at times? Can you share what your doctors said about all of this?