However, due to gaps in the medical education system, the diagnosis is frequently missed and rarely treated promptly. These patients often spend several years and tens of thousands of dollars getting shuffled from specialist to specialist, with little or no change in their condition. Finally, frustrated and tired, many are offered a surgical cure and frequently end up under the knife. The results are usually disastrous. The mechanism of injury can be variable.
Overuse syndromes that involve long-standing poor posture are a common cause.
Shoulder injuries that involve lost range of motion can cause enough nerve irritation to get the syndrome started. Among some practitioners, a controversial cause of TOS is whiplash. However, recent research explains why the two seem to go hand in hand. The connection seems to be a phenomenon known as Double Crush . In order to understand why TOS can be hard to diagnose and is sometimes confused with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and Ulnar Entrapment at the Elbow, it helps to know a little about Double Crush .