| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| morecircus |
Posted - 06/27/2005 : 13:59:12
I recovered TMS. Yes I feel different as a person because of that crap I went thru being disabled and such.
Other friends of mine get Carpal Tunnel. Is all Carpal Tunnel just TMS? Or does Carpal Tunnel really exist?
I got a friend with neck injury. He swims great real fast (5:30 time 500 yrd. race) with no pain, and then sometimes the pain reaccurs and he'll modify his stroke to just breastroke no freestyle. He got injured on motorcycle years ago. Could this be a real neck injury or is it just TMS?
How do I introduce friends to TMS? Is their some formula I can use to not offend anyone? Are these people just really suffering from chronic pain or are they just arrogant and don't know TMS? It's like a mission I'm on, it's not at all about being nice to friends. I'm not trying to be nice to people with chronic pain, it's a mission of mine to get rid of their chronic pain. It's in my bones. |
| 3 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| art |
Posted - 06/27/2005 : 18:57:48
This is what I find so interesting about psychosomatic, "in vogue type "illnesses...Or maybe it's more of a question...How does our mind know how to create this whole syndrome, with it's all its unique and often strange symptoms, especially in the absence of any previous knowledge of said disease..
So for example, I had some carpal tunnel at one point, and had the syndrome nailed perfectly, right down to the very unpleasant feeling of having a very cold hand...Prior to that, I didnt even have the vaguest clue what carpal tunnel was...How did my mind know that "coldness" was a symptom to create?
Another example is plantar fasciitis...I was a runner when I got it, so I'd vaguely heard of it, but I had no idea what it was really...ditto the metatarsalgia I've just recently begun having lots of success battling against... Again all the symptoms, right down to the classic feeling of having a small stone in my shoe as I walked...
Off the top of my head I'm thinking that this argues for Dr. Sarno's belief that there is definitely a physical component with all this stuff...there has to be really, unless you want to argue that I'd heard of the various symptoms and just forgot, or blocked it out...
But I don't think so..somehow the brain focuses in on a particular spot (the psycho part) and from there the various symptoms ensure as a response (the somatic part)...the symptoms are very real, but they can't be addressed without going back to the psyche..
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| Laura |
Posted - 06/27/2005 : 18:05:33
I have some friends who recently got married and immediately started a family. While she was pregnant, the woman suddenly had carpal tunnel. Now, mind you, she had practiced yoga for years and years, as well as martial arts, and never had any problems. But for some reason, while she was pregnant, her wrists hurt her so badly I thought she'd never get pregnant again (of course, she blamed it on the hormones of pregnancy). Immediately after she had the baby, her husband (a sixth degree black belt, yoga instructor, and massage therapist) developed carpal tunnel as well. Now, he no longer can give massages because his wrists hurt too much. Isn't it interesting it all started with the birth of their first child?
Laura
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| n/a |
Posted - 06/27/2005 : 14:22:06
I know that Dr. Marc Sopher - a TMS doctor who learned from Dr. Sarno- rejects the whole concept of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome altoghter, calling it simply another example of TMS.
There are some tms websites onthis topic. See for example:
http://www.rsi.deas.harvard.edu/mb_what_is.html
Here is chapter 12 of Dr. Sopher's book "To Be or Not To Be... Pain-Free":
Chapter 12
HANDS UP!
Right behind headaches, back pain and foot pain is hand and wrist
pain, often diagnosed as carpal tunnel syndrome, or CTS. Symptoms
may include pain (burning, aching, stabbing, etc.), numbness,
tingling, and/or weakness from the forearm to the fingers. Sometimes
constant, sometimes intermittent, triggers may include repetitive
activity (like keyboard or mouse work) and even sleep! Fortunately,
recent studies may help to dispel these myths. Remember, a keyboard
can only cause discomfort if it falls from a great height!
CTS is often discussed as a repetitive stress disorder (RSD) or
injury (RSI). The patients I’ve seen with CTS complaints are often
doing repetitive tasks, in assembly or at a factory machine. Think of
them as athletes who have trained at an activity or task and it becomes
apparent that their symptoms can’t be caused by their work. Even if
they are obese smokers who cannot climb a flight of stairs without
huffing and puffing, they are uniquely prepared for their work by
virtue of that repetition. With training, with repetition we become
more capable, not less so. We aren’t so fragile, remember? Truth
be told, many of the tasks that these people perform are not physically
demanding, they are just done over and over again.
So, why the explosion of CTS? Well, the powers that be have
declared that RSI is a physical problem with a physical cause
(repetitive activity, improper ergonomics, etc.). It has been made a
legitimate and acceptable cause of pain (think “in vogue”). The
trigger is in place, the system recognizes it, and – voila – a mindbody
disorder may flourish.
Current CTS treatment includes anti-inflammatory drugs, steroid
injections, wrist splints, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and if
all else fails, surgery. I’ve seen many treatment failures. By this I
mean no response or temporary relief only. Why? Because a
physical modality cannot cure a problem with a psychological cause.
Let’s go back to these patients with CTS. Susan does data entry at
her computer for eight hours each day. She does not love her job; she
finds it boring and the pay is barely enough to make ends meet. She
works full-time and feels guilty that her kids have to go to daycare
after school. Bob works assembling circuit boards. He often works
overtime – the extra income allows his wife to work only part-time so
she can spend more time with their children. Bob feels his supervisor
doesn’t appreciate him. Bob’s father just learned he has lung cancer.
Susan and Bob also have the same internal conflicts that we all do.
Now do you know why they hurt? Their pain is from TMS and they
got better when they recognized this.
Scott is a pilot, married with two children, who came to see me for
evaluation of wrist and thumb pain plaguing him for more than one
year. He was certain it was arthritis or possibly carpal tunnel
syndrome. While taking his full history, he also complained of
chronic neck and back pain and recurrent testicular discomfort, the
last diagnosed as epididymitis.
Conscientious, thoughtful and caring, he saw that his personality
and the stresses of every day living could be sufficient to cause his
symptoms. It is now three years of feeling well and he is able to
quickly rid himself of symptoms when they recur.
Further support for how CTS is actually another manifestation of
TMS comes from a recent medical paper that suggested that the cause
of the malfunction of the median nerve at the wrist is a mild reduction
of blood flow to the area. Hence, mild oxygen deprivation results in
TMS symptoms in the hand or wrist, just as it causes TMS symptoms
elsewhere in the body. |
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