Numbness in fingers after TOS surgery

I had the surgery in May of last year.  It took about a month to 6 weeks for my hand and arm numbness to disapate. Unfortunately I am still numb on my chest near my collar bone, I'm not sure if that will every go away.  Hopefully your daughter will feel better soon! 

Just wondering if your daughters numbness has gone and her fingers are back to normal ,my numbness only lasted whilst my circulation and nerves were caught whilst sleeping ,it would wake me up as the pain is excruciating but they never stayed numb ,let me know if the op was successful Hun x

Hi I just had the left side done in May. I had the right side done in 2014. It took about 1 month to get back to my life. I recovered quickly from the 2014 surgery but this time was much worse. I was rushed to ER a few days after discharge from hospital. I had complications during intubation. I have a micro compressed lung and pneumonia. Both arms and hands are in pain and my hands are numb and hurt. I am 8 weeks out and I'm still very sick, in a lot of pain and numb. I believe that numbness could be inflammation which is the bodies way of healing. I did not have this numbness and this much pain after the 2014 surgery.

I strongly recommend and this is based on having 12 spine surgeries and 2 TOS surgeries give it one solid year prior to having any further surgery. I also do not believe pt has ever helped me. Swimming, walking in and out of a warm pool, lots of water, good diet and stretching on your own is best. Also the ER physician told me the left side tends to be more of difficult and longer recovery. It's near the heart etc.

I had a Sniff Test prior to surgery. It is a specialized X-ray the physician is in the room with you while the X-ray is performed. It's to ensure the diaphragm, lungs and heart are in good shape. Having TOS surgery can injure the nerves that make the diaphragm work. If one side is not working properly my physician won't do TOS surgery on the other side. My test was perfect. Now in ER they performed the sniff test again, 2 weeks after the first test. It wasn't good. I have nerve damage, I got hospital acquired pneumonia from the intubation and my chest and esophagus were injured.

I have fibromyalgia since 1992. While that does complicate things differentiating between fibromyalgia and this pain is key. Only you can get across to your doctors how the pain is different. Often we get told it's the fibromyalgia making it worse. And it definitely can prolong things. But I am very sure the pain in my chest, neck, incisions are the culprit. That and the damage done to me during intubation. My surgeon does not remove a rib in all cases. I did not have my ribs removed. It's much safer. I wish you the best!!

HI,

I had the surgery 6 weeks ago. After it was completed I lost alot of strength and use of my right hand. Before the surgery I had some tingling to my fingers. Now my pinky is numb, I can't make a hitch hike symbol with my thumb. I can make a weak fist, but I can't make my thumb reach the pinky. Also I can't lift the back side of my fingers meaning extend them like my left hand. I'm not sad about the surgery because something was wrong up top of my body and it was getting worst. I just hope that your daughter's as well as mine get back to normal operation sooner than later.