| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Sean |
Posted - 01/19/2006 : 14:08:27
Most of my pain comes when I'm sitting for too long or standing in one spot for more than 3 or 4 minutes. According to Sarno's books, this is a conditioned response. What does everyone else do when they get pain from conditioning? Do you think of what is bothering you psychologically? It doesn't make much sense to say something must be bothering me now that was not bothering me two minutes ago when I was not standing. Or if I lay down and the pain goes away, does that mean all of the sudden whatever it was has stopped bothering me?
I guess my point is when I'm having a painful day I can see thinking psychologically, but when I'm having a conditioned response how does thinking psychologically help? After all the pain is from conditioning and not from something that is bothering me for the 5 minutes I'm standing in one place. |
| 9 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Sean |
Posted - 01/20/2006 : 15:09:58
Thanks for your insight Stryder. I do know that my anger toward my back pain is not causing my back pain. If that were the case I would never have developed it in the first place. My point was that my back pain causes a great deal of conscience anger.
By the way "Just let the pain flow through you."??? I think I've heard that line in Star Wars somewhere.  |
| Stryder |
Posted - 01/20/2006 : 12:33:47
Hi Sean,
You are in my shoes.
Well Sean, I said all of these same things just as you are now when I was at your stage in life. Its deja vu. I had LBP for 20 years, and it peaked just about the same time yours did now.
Why is that?
Yes, life is wonderful, for you and I, and for everyone around you. But its not the back pain that is the root of your unconscious anger and rage. Yes, you can blame the back pain for your misery, but it is not the root cause, it is a symptom.
Here's one thing. You are scared to death to let your loved ones get caught in the TMS crossfire. You try to keep it inside as much as possible. You say this to yourself, "I have to be strong, I am the Dad." Also, there does not have to be one huge nasty hidden emotion that is causing your TMS, it can be an accumulation of smaller factors adding up. So its not uncommon for you to recognize something as a cause, then think you are out of the woods TMS-wise. Something else may pop-out later as you do your TMS work.
Yes, your family is wonderful, but the inner child inside you is in a blinding rage.
To crack the puzzle, accept the pain and do not be angry with the pain anymore. Your conscious anger against the pain is the distraction that TMS is using preventing your from getting better. Its a vicious cycle. Just let the pain flow through you. Let it be the pain that it is.
Now, your job is to concentrate and obsess on only this...
The pain is benign and will not harm me.
... and by doing so you can break the cycle.
Take care, -Stryder |
| Sean |
Posted - 01/20/2006 : 11:56:24
Well Stryder, my wife of 6 years is the most caring and wonderful partner I could ask for. My 2 year old couldn't be cuter or more fun. Both of which have not been around as long as my back problems. And PLEASE, no one over-analyze that some how I view my life as too perfect and somehow that is affecting me. I have seen that suggested on this forum before.
My point is that I have a good life and nothing makes me more angry than this back pain preventing me from enjoying it. Do I have things that bother me...Yes, many. If there was something that makes me more angry than my back pain it would have to be so BIG that I'm repressing the entire event (I'm pretty sure I'm not). |
| Stryder |
Posted - 01/20/2006 : 10:26:51
Hi Sean,
I can't imagine anything I'm repressing that would come close to the anger and anxiety I have toward my back pain.
Don't be so sure. The perp emotions are repressesed remember. You can't consciously know they are there, so you can't honestly make that statement.
How many years have you been married?
How old are your kids?
Take care, -Stryder |
| Sean |
Posted - 01/20/2006 : 07:40:30
I appreciate all the responses. And I am not one for laying around and watching my life pass by (at least not yet). I am always doing something (home improvement, small business finances, yard work. Granted not as much as I used to though). The pain I get when sitting I can try to ignore it and push through, but the pain I get when I am standing is impossible to ignore. I have tried and have paid the price for it.
I know this will take time since I have had lower back pain for 10 years now with the pain increasing is severity every year. It is just soooo frustrating...talk about anger and anxiety, I can't imagine anything I'm repressing that would come close to the anger and anxiety I have toward my back pain. |
| Jim1999 |
Posted - 01/19/2006 : 21:51:00
Sean,
In my case, the pain was caused by a combination of repressed emotions and conditioning. To overcome the pain required that I address both causes. I used thinking psychological (journaling) to address the repressed emotions. I gradually returned to normal activity to challenge the conditioning. I would not have made a full recovery if I used only one and ignored the other.
I can't promise you that this is true in your case, but it's something to consider.
Jim |
| Stryder |
Posted - 01/19/2006 : 20:43:12
Hi sean,
Try some anger release. Beat up a pillow. Take a baseball bat to a bail of hay. Scream at the top of your lungs in the car (when you are alone with the windows rolled up). Split wood with an axe. Break glass bottles at the recycling center (wear safety goggles :-)
Of course, be discrete and vent in private.
Take care, -Stryder |
| atg |
Posted - 01/19/2006 : 17:22:37
Hi Sean,
You are right, you most likely are not feeling repressed anger every time you sit or stand, and none at all when you lay down. I have the exact same symptoms. And because the symptoms were so positionally-based, it was harder for me to accept the diagnosis at first. Most likely though, you are preoccupied with the condition even when you are not experiencing the pain, in which case the TMS is doing its job successfully. It's hard to say why we felt pain in those positions when we first did (possibly because the muscles are more activated in those positions than when lying down) but once we did, the pain was ever-after correlated with those positions.
It wasn't until I forced myself to drive for 4-5 hours straight (to confront the pain) that I had success. The second leg of my drive, after talking to my brain and certain that it was TMS, I realized that I had little to no pain an hour and a half after driving. This was the evidence I needed. Since then, I stopped using the support pillow and engaged in activities despite my back. I still have pain when I sit and stand, but know it is a conditioned response and that eventually I won't have it anymore. Interestingly, even knowing that it is a conditioned response is not, by itself, enough in my case to eliminate the pain. Possibly, due to my internal issues I still need it. The pain is definitely less severe though, since taking that mini-road trip.
I'm not suggesting that you take the drastic step of taking off in your car for hours on end; I write this only to let you know that it is possible to have pain only when sitting and standing still, and have TMS be its cause. |
| molomaf |
Posted - 01/19/2006 : 15:06:03
Sean,
As best as you can, try to forget about the pain from sitting or standing. If you feel pain, just brush it aside as not important and continue your activities. I think most of us on this board have had the sitting pain. Just give it as little attention as possible or laugh at it. Say to your brain, "I know what you are doing and I am not going to react to the pain" and then don't. One day, you will notice that you can sit or stand and you didn't get the pain. If it doesn't keep your attention, it will fade away.
Michele |
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