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hsb
149 Posts |
 Posted - 08/01/2006 : 14:20:10
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Art said: "I just don't think there's much that's as destructive to our health and well-being as obsessive worry and fear.."
In a nutshell. |
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weatherman
USA
184 Posts |
Posted - 08/01/2006 : 16:28:33
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Just to clarify - I never stretch the achilles before exercise, I actually do it late in the evening on most days. And never to the point of pain. I do know that I have about 10 degrees more range of front-and-back motion in my ankles now than before I began doing this, which would seem to make a sudden tear less likely. Again, I don't view the stretching thing as pain prevention since that truly does originates in the mind - but I do believe a flexible achilles is better than a stiff one.
I did pick up The Divided Mind a month ago and while it didn't have any achilles stories per se, one of the contributors noted that achilles problems have become much more common lately, kind of like carpal tunnel.
Weatherman |
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wrldtrv
666 Posts |
Posted - 08/01/2006 : 23:01:34
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I find this thread very interesting. The whole question of how does one know when something is TMS or not.
Just today--a few hours ago--at work I had something happen that makes me very suspicious. During a meeting (I hate meetings and I was a combo of tense and irritated) as I leaned over the paper I was looking at, I heard a popping sound and then felt a sharp pain in my left shoulder. Well, I mentioned a similar pain just one month ago that occurred while I was making some very slight stretching movement while lifting very light wts. That "injury" had just about healed when it happened again tonight. Okay, the really bizarre thing is this exact injury, same location, happened for the first time two years ago. What that time had in common with today was that then too, I remember I was sitting in an office at work talking to someone and was experiencing some sort of tension, anger--something when the sharp pain occurred. Then, it was so painful I thought I dislocated my shoulder. I even went into the restroom and took off my shirt to see. I assumed I had a rotator cuff injury and even went through months of P.T. Took probably 6 months to fully heal.
Okay, I can see how vigorous physical activity could maybe cause this type of injury, but how in the hell can simply sitting at a table talking to someone (twice) cause this severe acute pain and then months of recuperation? It's simply baffling!
TMS? Sure sounds like it, except that I heard a popping sound this latest time along with the fact that it has always occurred in the same shoulder. And each time the shoulder eventually heals completely and even lifting very heavy wts doesn't bother it. |
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art
1903 Posts |
Posted - 08/02/2006 : 11:20:18
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In my non-medical opinion, you can't injure your shoulder just sitting at your desk talking with someone...
Popping noises are often associated with new TMS symptoms from what I've read...
Shoulders are weird. Before I knew about TMS I'd been having much trouble with my right shoulder when playing golf. One day the pain got so bad I figured I was done for the season..Since it was late summer already I figured I wouldn't play again till the following spring, so I might as well play one more hole as it didn't matter much if I hurt myself a little more...Granted that's kind of dumb thinking, but the result was that for the first time in weeks I was no longer afraid...I just felt like no matter what I did it wasn't going to matter...
So I teed off one more time, and really let it rip. Amazingly, the pain was gone, vanished, poof. Just like that. As I said, I didn't know about TMS in those days, but clearly that's what I had. As soon as I lost the fear, the pain went away. I played the rst of the season pain free..
It's almost as if for me the engine that drives this whole thing is not rage so much as fear...It's not easy not to be afraid, especially since as you guys point out, we've got so much invested in running, but the good news is you don't have to be perfect...For me, just "acting as if" I'm not afraid has been enough, at least so far..
wrld...I know you're quite an intelligent guy...intelligent people are sometimes quite skeptical, and have a hard time buying into any one thing because they can see all sides of an issue...but sometimes things are just so obvious it might pay to take a step back and try to be objective...you're sitting at your desk, you have stress and anger, the two big emotional components of TMS in my view anyway, and suddenly for no reason your shoulder goes "pop." If I told you such a tale, what would you tell me you thought it was? |
Edited by - art on 08/02/2006 11:29:54 |
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wrldtrv
666 Posts |
Posted - 08/02/2006 : 23:35:34
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Art--guess what? I couldn't believe it I woke up this morning and my shoulder was back to normal! It was as though yesterday never happened. All I did was take some ibuprofin after the incident and went to bed. I was very sure that like the last two times, this "injury" would take at least weeks to heal.
Of course you're right; people don't get shoulder injuries from just sitting and doing nothing. This episode seems very clearly a case of TMS--or whatever else you want to call it. Especially because this time it disappeared so quickly. The first time took several months so I assumed it was a real injury all along. Even so, I was always suspicious that that time too, all I was doing before the injury was sitting at a desk and talking to someone. The part that ties the two episodes together is that each time, I was under stress.
As always, Art, you are very insightful in your comments. Yes, I do indeed have a terrible struggle accepting anything because I CAN see all sides. My tendency is to be very skeptical, accepting things only tentatively until some other piece of evidence comes along to contradict it. And though I have seen the liklihood of TMS operating in my own life, I STILL have a tough time believing it 100%, but I'm making progress. |
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art
1903 Posts |
Posted - 08/03/2006 : 03:13:35
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quote:
Originally posted by wrldtrv
Yes, I do indeed have a terrible struggle accepting anything because I CAN see all sides. My tendency is to be very skeptical, accepting things only tentatively until some other piece of evidence comes along to contradict it. And though I have seen the liklihood of TMS operating in my own life, I STILL have a tough time believing it 100%, but I'm making progress.
THat's reall nice to hear wrld..I know it's been a long, hard struggle for you. I didn't get this stuff over night either. |
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achilles pain
