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Pastimes : Don't Ask Rambi -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: jpmac who wrote (40926)	11/3/1999 7:16:00 PM
From: Rambi	Respond to of 71178

Oooo- thorasic outlet syndrome... sounds as if your thorax is trying to escape out of your arms.. this is very serious. With no thorax why-- you would go right from your neck to your waist. You would have to sell all your t-shirts and buy small belts to hold your pants up around your neck. You would be very short.

To: jpmac who wrote (40926)	11/3/1999 7:19:00 PM
From: Jacques Chitte	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 71178

If it was Thoracic Outlet Syndrome - you'd know, because then you could plug your shaver or hair drier right into your ribcage. Maybe it's just a fuse? :-)

To: jpmac who wrote (40926)	11/3/1999 7:34:00 PM
From: Gauguin	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 71178

When I lived in them Rockies, we had a little type of oak called scrub oak, that grew on the hillsides, and turned fire-pink in the Fall. You have those? And in Cottonwood and Mill Creek Canyons, the cottonwoods tingle all yellow, against the blue sky and white trunks. The leaves cover the ground with pure yellow too. Do you see that? Here, they just turn the lights out, and the sprinklers on.

To: jpmac who wrote (40926)	11/4/1999 12:33:00 AM
From: Ilaine	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 71178

This is from Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine, not the best book on nerves but it's handy: "The thoracic outlet is an anatomic region containing the first rib, the subclavian artery and vein, the brachial plexus, the clavicle, and the lung apex. Injury to these structures may produce thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS), characterized by pain around the shoulder and supraclavicular region induced by certain tasks and positions. There are at least three types of TOS. True neurogenic thoracic outlet syndrome results from compression of the lower trunk of the plexus by an anomalous band of tissue connecting an elongate transverse process at C7 with the first rib. Neurologic deficits include weakness of the intrinsic muscles of the hand and diminished sensation on the palmar aspect of the 4th and 5th digits. The arterial thoracic outlet syndrome results of compression of the subclavian artery by a cervical rib; the compression results in poststenoic dilation of the artery and thrombus formation. A reduced blood pressure in the affected limb may be accompanied by signs of emboli in the hand. Neurological signs are absent. Noninvasive doppler tests confirm the diagnosis. The disputed thoracic outlet syndrome includes a large number of patients with chronic arm and shoulder pain of unclear cause. The lack of sensitive and specific changes on physical examination or laboratory markers for this condition frequently results in diagnostic uncertainty and treament of this form of TOS is often unsuccessful." I guess the point here is that nerve damage can be caused by impingement on the nerve by some other structure of the body, be it bone, muscle, or what have you. "Releasing" the nerve, that is, removing the impingement, can save it, if done in a timely manner. But in your case, even if you cannot regain normal function, there's still hope that you can prevent further damage. My fingers are crossed.