Dewar, you are absolutely right, it is postural, with the added qualifier that certain physical characteristics/traits contribute to vulnerability. Rarely, someone actually is born with an extra rib up high in the ribcage near the clavicle, and that causes TOS. Even in those individuals, surgery is not always indicated. Unless the medical field has changed it's position on it, surgery is a very last resort because the outcomes are not good too much of the time.
MzrtFan, I am sorry to hear about your situation. In terms of DP actions, yeah, every change is going to affect your tendons, muscles, and, most important in terms of TOS, posture. Whether the change will be good, bad, or indifferent in your case, I don't know. Hence I realize my folly in even posting the original question, because even tho I knew at the time the triggers are highly personal, I asked about specific DP anyway.
Really I just wanted to see if anyone else had gone thru what I had.
Regarding what kind of doc gave the diagnosis, I can't remember ... I remember orthodpedic in general being pretty useless ("it's a sprain/it's carpal tunnel/it's arthritis" ... I got the sense if it wasn't a broken bone, they all thought it was a nuisance I'd just have to live with). I would guess a physiatrist is a good place to start. There are very simple tests that can be done by the doctor holding your arm above your head and back and looking for a pulse to disappear ... in my recent web research it appears this test is still being used. If you go to a doc who doesn't do this or some other thing to test for neurovascular pinching in the neck/shoulder region, you are dealing with someone who doesn't know about TOS, I'm thinking. You may not HAVE TOS; but if you want to rule it out, make sure the doctor you are seeing seems familiar with it.
I see you are in Virginia ... I don't know doctors out there, but in my area is one of the main TOS treaters around ... Peter Edgelow in Redwood City, CA. If you search for him on the web, he may be able to refer you to someone using his treatment protocol in your area. Also, here are some helpful links:
American TOS Assoc; you can probably find a directory of treaters here:
http://www.atosa.org/Physical Therapy Corner, cool medical drawing of the problem area:
http://www.nismat.org/ptcor/thoracic_outlet/Definitely nip it in the bud (or whatever it is you have once you find out). You don't want to become a chronic pain patient. It sucks. In doing my TOS exercises I can tell I don't have any scar tissue built up in my upper back or some other physical restrictions like I did when I first started treatment long ago, yet I have the symptoms. Once you become a pain patient, you only need one trigger to create the pain of full-blown injury. I was told that generally, once you are in constant pain for 18 months or more, you are likely susceptible to the phenomena that is asymptomatic chronic pain.
So as an aside I will say one of the things that helped me most in my treatment was biofeedback therapy ... essentially any body-awareness modality designed to make pain go away. It's generalist, not movement-specific. This is what Alexander technique, and I'm starting sessions this week. I don't know if my affinity for this type of thing is addressing TOS itself, or the chronic-pain triggers. I'm suspecting the latter, so I don't know if it will be helpful in your case, but thought I'd throw that out there.
