Hello, I’m new here. I’ve been dealing with thoracic outlet syndrome and Eagle syndrome for over a year. I had my first TOS surgery last December my second February and my first vascular eagle surgery in July and I’m having my second on my left side September 19. I wouldn’t say better at this point just different. I really struggle with increased muscle tone through my body and hip pain. I’m wondering if this is coming from my left vagus nerve as I don’t have other compressions in my body or pathology in my spine that would cause this pain? Kind of at a loss now as a lot is hinging on this last operation for me. I’m also just really tired and wondering what’s gonna be left of my body after all of this
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I’m sorry that you’ve been diagnosed with both TOS & ES, that is rough! I hope that the next surgery will be successful & will give you better health… we do often find that members don’t feel the full benefits of ES surgery until both sides are done unfortunately. The vagus nerve is often affected & is next to the styloids, in the carotid sheath along with the ICA & IJV I believe, so this could be causing you issues… Do you mean that you have more tension in your muscles & that’s causing you issues? If so lots of members find that posture, pain & guarding of muscles caused by ES pain & inflammation can cause issues with muscles not just in the neck & shoulders but throughout the whole body, it’s amazing the ripple effect ES can have. There have been quite a few discussions on this, & some members have found that it can take months of targetted gentle exercises & PT to begin to undo all the ‘damage’ which has been done, here’s one discussion which might be helpful:
List of my favourite resources on YouTube to learn anatomy - General - Living with Eagle
Who is your surgeon? Is it Dr Costantino? I’m trying to be encouraging, but also realistic as you may not get instant relief after surgery, will pray for your surgery & sending you a hug 
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Hi! Thanks for replying. Yes my dr is Dr costantino. He has been great with me but didn’t have an answer for the rest of my body, he thought I was describing vagus nerve symptoms but could not confirm surgery would fix it. I recognize how lucky I am to have the access to these surgeons in such a short time but WOW my body I think has had it.
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They are major surgeries, so it is alot for you to go through & I’m sure that this will have an effect on you too
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@Shugs - To give you a more realistic healing timeline, ES surgeries even w/o IJV compression can take a year for full recovery. Nerves are slow to heal & do so very gradually. Soon after surgery some symptoms can be notably missing, whereas others foot-drag for months disappearing very gradually. As @Jules noted, you’ve had several very major surgeries in a somewhat close time period so your body has been through it! Your energy is likely low & may remain so for a few months as that’s your body’s way of keeping you down so it can put the bulk of whatever energy you have into healing vs non-essential activities.
I expect that given some months of recovery, your body will rally & you’ll begin feeling much better, but as noted, it may be a slow process. Knowing that ahead will allow you to prepare mentally to take life slowly for a while.
I don’t know if you’ve read on the forum that post op we recommend sleeping w/ head elevation of ~30º for several days to several weeks as that will help reduce swelling in your neck & throat. Icing your neck for 15 min every two hours (for a week or two or beyond if it’s helpful) w/ a thin towel between your skin & ice pack to prevent ice burns is also helpful in reducing post op swelling. Of course, taking your pain meds on schedule is very helpful, & if you’re taking Rx pain meds, adding a daily stool softener & laxative helps keep the large intestines happier. Peak post op swelling usually occurs on days 3-5/6 post op & swelling can take 4-8 weeks to subside more completely.
I’m glad your surgery is coming up soon so you can start healing in earnest. I’ve added your surgery date to my calendar so I can pray for you, too.
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@Shugs what are all of your symptoms lately?
Excellent advice, as always!
I feel so sorry for our fellow Eagle sufferers - we get so worn down and so worn out getting the diagnosis, then the procedures, and the recovery, which as you say, takes many months or beyond in some cases.
Thank you and Jules for always gently encouraging and guiding others through this process!
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Hi @Shugs I agree with @Jules, how I understand it, stress and anxiety causes a lot of muscle tension throughout our bodies and leads to the fight or flight response (our primal instinct) especially causing tension in our hip flexor muscles. The vagus nerve calms this response down, so it stands to reason if your vagus nerve is getting compressed then this maybe the cause. I also get hip pain that comes and goes and I have IJV compression from my C1/Styloid. I wish you all the best for your next surgery and hope this gives you more symptom relief.
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