Find a Thoracic Outlet Syndrome Specialist
Find a Thoracic Outlet Syndrome Specialist
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Finding a thoracic outlet syndrome specialist may be the most important step you can take
Find a Thoracic Outlet Syndrome (TOS) Specialist. TOS patients recover more quickly when a provider completes the diagnosis of thoracic outlet syndrome accurately and quickly, and when appropriate treatment of thoracic outlet syndrome starts promptly. Why do some specialists excel at diagnosing and treating TOS patients, and how do you find the best thoracic outlet syndrome specialist?
As a patient, you should find a thoracic outlet syndrome specialist who can provide you with the information you need to understand TOS and to make the best treatment decisions. An experienced thoracic outlet syndrome specialist can help you make the best decisions between treatment options, including physical therapy, thoracic outlet syndrome exercises, and various types of thoracic outlet syndrome surgery.
Many TOS patients face the challenge of finding a qualified thoracic outlet syndrome specialist. We understand the obstacles, and we aim to provide information to help patients with that challenge.
Thoracic outlet syndrome does not belong to a single medical specialty
What specialists see thoracic outlet syndrome patients?
How do you find the thoracic outlet syndrome specialist who is best for you?
What questions should you ask a thoracic outlet syndrome specialist?
Early diagnosis of thoracic outlet syndrome is critical for successful treatment of thoracic outlet syndrome
Early and accurate diagnosis of thoracic outlet syndrome enables prompt and precise treatment of thoracic outlet syndrome. However, your physician may be unfamiliar with TOS, inexperienced with TOS, or unable to diagnose TOS quickly and accurately. In this case, you may not receive prompt treatment. For this reason, it is important to understand how to recognize or find a qualified thoracic outlet syndrome specialist.
Unfortunately, we have seen many patients with chronic pain from undiagnosed and untreated TOS. As a result, we have heard many stories of multiple visits to multiple doctors, without a satisfying answer or diagnosis. By the time the patient finds an experienced thoracic outlet syndrome specialist, the challenges feel overwhelming.
It is important to realize that working with a thoracic outlet syndrome specialist usually translates into an earlier diagnosis, which means less pain, faster recovery, and better outcome for many TOS patients.
Thoracic outlet syndrome falls outside any single medical specialty
Highly-trained specialists and sub-specialists form the foundation of modern health care in America. Patients are very comfortable knowing they can always find a highly-qualified provider for just about any medical condition that develops.
For example, when you break a bone, you see an orthopedic surgeon.
When you are pregnant, you see an obstetrician.
When you have chest pain, you see a cardiologist.
An orthopedic surgeon knows bones. An obstetrician knows the mom and the baby. A cardiologist knows the heart. But who knows the thoracic outlet?
The thoracic outlet is not the neck, not the chest, nor the shoulder. The thoracic outlet is not the nerves, not the arteries, nor the veins. Because of the complexity of the thoracic outlet, it has never lived within the territory of a single medical specialty.
You cannot search the phone book or Google for your local university hospital TOS medical group. That’s the bad news. At the same time, there is good news. While TOS does not fall within one specialty, there are practitioners of many different specialties that do know TOS quite well. We are here to help you find them.
What specialists see thoracic outlet syndrome patients?
Ordinarily, when you search for a medical specialist, you search based on the type of training that person has completed. However, you cannot search for specialty training that guarantees knowledge or experience in diagnosing and treating TOS patients. In other words, there is no medical specialty whose curriculum uniformly trains graduates in the diagnosis and treatment of thoracic outlet syndrome.
Conversely, many providers trained in many different specialties have earned the knowledge and experience to treat TOS patients. To put it another way, searching by specialist is likely to be of little help. But searching based on TOS knowledge and experience can be fruitful. And while no medical specialty ‘owns’ TOS, there are many specialties within whose ranks you can find a thoracic outlet syndrome specialist.
We can start by understanding what each thoracic outlet syndrome specialist does. In this way, we can understand how each specialist can help TOS patients.
The most important member of your team
After you find your TOS specialist, how do you manage all of the information they give you? In fact, many TOS patients are overwhelmed after receiving the diagnosis of neurogenic thoracic outlet syndrome. Most NTOS patients are not doctors, and even many doctors are confused by the TOS terminology they haven’t previously heard.
As a patient, you may face challenges understanding the results of your tests and your treatment options. While your TOS specialist may be at the top of their field, many neurogenic thoracic outlet syndrome patients get a second opinion. In addition, multi-specialty teams of providers often provide the best TOS outcomes. So how are you as a patient to absorb all of the information and make the best decision, especially if some of your TOS specialists offer differing opinions?
The most important member of your team is the physician who can review, understand, and integrate all of your test results. This person can help you understand your treatment options, especially if your TOS specialists offer differing choices. That burden should not fall on you, the patient.
For many TOS patients, your primary care physician serves best as the ‘quarterback’ of your TOS team. Your primary care physician knows your medical history best, and in many cases may be the first to recognize the early signs and symptoms of neurogenic thoracic outlet syndrome. Learn more about primary care physicians and TOS here.
In some situations, it might make more sense for one of your TOS specialists to assume the role of quarterback. That specialist might be the first physician to have diagnosed you, or the surgeon in a situation where surgery is the next best step forward. Or perhaps it is the TOS specialist of any speciality whom you connect best with, whom you trust through your relationship over the course of diagnosis and treatment.
Keep in mind that you as the TOS patient need to clarify with your chosen primary care physician or TOS specialist that you intend to relay on their skill set and guidance to make this relationship work to your benefit. You will trust them to guide your decisions, and they will use their training and experience to separate the wheat from the chaff, to empower your decisions.
How do you find the best thoracic outlet syndrome specialist for you?
By now, you likely know that no medical specialty uniformly trains doctors to diagnose and treat TOS patients. As a result, you cannot search for a TOS specialist just by specialty. And no doctor treats TOS patients only. However, thoracic outlet syndrome specialists are available in many parts of the country, and we can help you find one.
With this in mind, how do you find your thoracic outlet syndrome specialist?
Start right here with our interactive map of thoracic outlet syndrome specialists. Find a TOS specialist near you, find a TOS specialist with specific training, or find a TOS specialist you have read about online. Visit toseducation.org for more resources on thoracic outlet syndrome.
What questions should you ask a thoracic outlet syndrome specialist?
After you find a thoracic outlet syndrome specialist, how do you learn more about their expertise and experience?
We suggest the following questions as a starting point for opening a discussion with your potential thoracic outlet syndrome specialist:
We also strongly recommend that you contact us. We are happy to help you find a thoracic outlet syndrome specialist near you.
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