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Singer_Artist
USA
1516 Posts |
 Posted - 08/02/2006 : 15:48:26
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I'm back..I did miss being on the forum during the break, but it was a good idea to focus elsewhere for awhile...I have been dealing with one of the biggest losses of my life lately..The loss of my boyfriend/LOML who died a tragic death at the age of 21...I won't go into the details, just to say that after all these years I still miss him like it was yesterday...Everyone kept his death from me as I was away at the time it happened...and due to have exams upon returning..My mom told everyone to wait to tell me of his death until I finished my exams...He and I were taking a hiatis at the time..my choice..Anyway..there is ALOT of guilt, sadness, grief and anger associated with this...I got some of the sadness and grief out, and that felt good...This is just one of the psychological things I have been thinking about...
I have been walking 2 miles every morning and it is definitely helping my neck...I still need to regain range of motion and be able to bend, lift, drive, etc..but I have made progress...Here is the unbelievable thing that is going on now...Is it symptom imperative or is it a real physical issue...
For the past several days my right foot has been hurting...Now this is the foot that is a bit turned outward due to my still needing to rebuild the quads/hamstrings on that leg from the previous knee injuries..It has been turned out a bit for over a year, maybe two..So why now is it hurting? Now I haven't been walking regularly for a long time and I have orthodics in my sneakers that were made for me some 5 years ago..b4 the knee injury which caused the atrophy in the leg muscles which caused this turning out of my foot...I am not sure if it's the orthodics, perhaps they need to be adjusted..or IS IT JUST TMS ON THE RUN??? The symptom imperative, that is??
Today I took the orthodics out and did the entire 2 mile walk..It hurt during most of the walk and then when i layed down at home all of a sudden my achilles tendon started hurting...and other areas on the bottom of my foot...The main painful spot is where, I believe, the plantar fasciitis is located...Bottom of the foot, toward the inside arch area...It is bad enough that I am not sure I will be able to do my walk tomorrow...Even walking around the house is becoming difficult...This is naturally VERY DEPRESSING AND DISCOURAGING! I have been THRILLED about being able to do my walk and seeing the help it was giving to my neck..Now this?? And it's not like i fell and landing on my feet..! The only thing i did was the walking and maybe holding my foot in an awkward position on a stool while typing here and keeping my knee stretched straight? But can just those things do all this?? I have gained weight and recal a podiatrist saying years ago that even small amounts of weight gain can cause foot pain...BUT WHY NOW??? And how do I know it's not physical this time...I finally believe my neck is TMS...but the foot? I don't know..and I don't want to run to a doctor who will probably just scare me and get me surely thinking it's physical...I don't know what to do...Any suggestions/thoughts?Thanks for reading... |
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weatherman
USA
184 Posts |
Posted - 08/02/2006 : 16:23:42
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A disclaimer up front here, I really AM a weatherman and by no means a doctor. But my take on it:
Forget about the orthotics! I wore them for about 5 years at one point, due to a chronic foot "injury" and "chondromalacia." During that period they appeared to help (placebo) as that's where my mind was and Sarno's TMS theory didn't even exist yet. I haven't worn orthotics in 20 years, am about to turn 50 and exercise strenuously (constantly hiking up and down mountains). And - knock on wood - have never had a recurrence of the foot pain that got me into orthotics to begin with. If this was truly a degenerative thing my feet should be killing me nowadays. And I was told way back then that I would need orthotics for the rest of my life. The podiatrists who got me into them were great guys and their hearts were really in the right place - but they were just wrong.
The very fact that your pain is moving around and coming out of nowhere SCREAMS TMS.
Weatherman |
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FlyByNight
Canada
209 Posts |
Posted - 08/02/2006 : 16:25:43
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Karen...
This is really good news and in my modest opinion IT IS TMS symtptoms imperative ... If you fully embrace the TMS approach, you should remove these orthotics because they make you focus too much on the physical ... and in fact there are plenty of stories here of people with bad feets and knees who used to wear foot orthotics and who dont need them after working out their TMS. Try to observe how the foot pain modulates when you think emotional.
P. |
Edited by - FlyByNight on 08/02/2006 16:31:16 |
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Dave
USA
1864 Posts |
Posted - 08/02/2006 : 16:56:47
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quote:
Originally posted by Singer_Artist
...Now this is the foot that is a bit turned outward due to my still needing to rebuild the quads/hamstrings on that leg from the previous knee injuries ... and I have orthodics in my sneakers that were made for me some 5 years ago..b4 the knee injury which caused the atrophy in the leg muscles which caused this turning out of my foot...I am not sure if it's the orthodics, perhaps they need to be adjusted..
Physical physical physical . . .
Re-read the sections of Dr. Sarno's books about this so it will sink in. What you say above is not consistent with TMS thinking. |
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Singer_Artist
USA
1516 Posts |
Posted - 08/02/2006 : 16:58:54
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Thanx Pat and Weatherman,
I appreciate your input very much...I sooooo hope you are both right!!! I want it to be TMS and nothing physical...Today I did take the orthodics out when I did my walk, but it 'seemed' like the symptoms were made worse by this...The pain being in other areas of the bottom of my foot as well as my achilles in that foot made me think that my arches might be a problem...As I mentioned, the foot is turned (supinated) outward compared to the other foot, from the previous knee injury and subsequent weaker quads and hamstrings..so I don't know...It's all so maddening because I was soooo happy to be walking again..My neck is still healing, but I feel like I could graduate to a power walk, neck wise..It's now the foot that is making it impossible..I don't know if it is my imagination but I felt some burning (heat) not in the area where there is pain but to the right and above...I keep thinking of Dr. Sopher saying in his book that "you didn't fall off a building and land on your feet!" I am dealing with alot of fear over this because i really think the walking is doing the rest of me, particularly my neck, alot of good... |
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Singer_Artist
USA
1516 Posts |
Posted - 08/02/2006 : 17:01:18
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| I know Dave...It's because I am not sure that this foot issue is TMS...Finally I fully embrace that my neck is TMS,,,but I really don't know with the foot... |
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FlyByNight
Canada
209 Posts |
Posted - 08/02/2006 : 17:04:10
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Karen .. just check how the pain is changing when you thing emotional ... is there any difference ? Its normal to ask youself if a new pain is TMS or not.. In my case, if there are resonable evidences that the pain modulates with emotional thinking or journaling, or if it diminish in certain activity taht should trigger pain if it was really physical, I just classify it as TMS (I just sent you an email by the way) :)
P. |
Edited by - FlyByNight on 08/02/2006 17:06:34 |
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Singer_Artist
USA
1516 Posts |
Posted - 08/02/2006 : 17:12:06
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| Thanks P..I just got your email and wrote back! Was good to hear from you!! I hear what you are saying...Well, the walking definitely makes the pain worse...But that could just be a conditioning thing..I am so frustrated this just came out of nowhere...And it seems to be getting worse...I REALLY want to do my walk tomorrow..And I will try..But i am scared it will make it worse again...Today was the first time that it went into the achilles tendon..and i heard that plantar fasciitis (sp?) can do that...But the good doctor does talk about PF as a TMS equivalent...Maybe it's some kind of terrible self sabotage program running..I mean I have been getting better, albeit slowly,,,but surely! Now this! |
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FlyByNight
Canada
209 Posts |
Posted - 08/02/2006 : 17:23:50
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KAren
Fred Amir documents this up and down phase of increase in pain followed by less pain in his book when you start back to exercise. ... you should read it . |
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art
1903 Posts |
Posted - 08/02/2006 : 17:37:34
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Orthotics are a bunch of b.s. Silly little platforms we stick in our shoes as if somehow, despite hundreds of thousands of years of evolution, our feet as designed (I use the term loosely) are somehow insufficient for the task of walking a few miles...Consider how our ancestors lived, walking all day long, day after day as hunter/gatherers...and all without a podiatrist in sight.
Having said all that, it's probably better to wean yourself off them...JUst as it took you time to get used to them, it might take a little bit of time to adjust to walking without them...IT's what I'd do anyway..
BY the way, is there actually a word "orthodics" with a "d?" I heard someone else recently refer to them that way, but I wasn't sure if I was hearing him right...
quote:
The podiatrists who got me into them were great guys and their hearts were really in the right place - but they were just wrong.
You're more generous than I would be...I think, at least down deep, they suspect much of what they do is a bunch of hocus pocus..same with chiropractors...
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Edited by - art on 08/02/2006 17:44:47 |
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Singer_Artist
USA
1516 Posts |
Posted - 08/02/2006 : 17:41:26
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| Thanks Art...I hope that is all that is going on..but it sure feels like more...The pain started b4 removing the orthodics and after starting the walking program again...It got alot worse after walking 2 miles with the orthodics out...My calf is getting tight now too and this makes no sense..I stretch after walking..never b4 but always after...Just hope it is TMS messing with me and doesn't prevent the walk tomorrow or in general...I am DETERMINED to get past all of this! |
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Singer_Artist
USA
1516 Posts |
Posted - 08/02/2006 : 17:50:36
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P,
I am on page 199 of Fred Amir's book...It's very good, I love it..but all the charts, etc..overwhelm me a bit...I have done some of them...as for the goal setting...I am doing that anyway with my walking...Just praying the foot thing doesn't stop me...This is just so crazy..Sometimes I think it's ALL an illusion!
Art,
I am not sure if I am spelling orthodics properly..it could be with a T...You are a runner...I bet you have risen above foot pain b4 with TMS methods, right? I just need to hear some success stories on this... |
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art
1903 Posts |
Posted - 08/02/2006 : 19:14:58
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| I've had many foot problems, including one very nasty case of metatarsalgia (sp)...all healed without benefit of medical intervention, or even rest... |
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Singer_Artist
USA
1516 Posts |
Posted - 08/02/2006 : 19:29:02
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| Thanx dear friend...Appreciate hearing that...I am feeling rather depressed about this right now...Hoping tomorrow I wake up able to do my walk.. |
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Special One
USA
61 Posts |
Posted - 08/02/2006 : 22:35:57
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Karen,
I do think you have tms in the foot because I just experienced similar symptoms, went to the doctor, who didn't know what it was, and finally just tried to ignore it and keep moving, although I was less vigorous for a while. The achilles would be tight one day, fine the next, tight again, etc. The calf muscle was the same. I worried and fretted, and now, about a month or two later, it is better. I am convinced it was tms, but that doesn't mean it is easy to get rid of or ignore.
Sometimes I get discouraged. Like right now, I know my neck and head pain is tms, but being desperate for relief, I do stuff Sarno said is defeating tms recovery. I feel like a tms failure because I try tms thinking and then I think "I must not be good at this because I am not feeling better." I won't give up, but it is not always easy. I think doing the tms work is like brushing your teeth. You have to keep up with it but at times it would be nice to just give it up. The problem is, there is no easy solution to the symptoms, such as a pill, and if we stopped brushing our teeth...we'd have issues. |
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wrldtrv
666 Posts |
Posted - 08/02/2006 : 23:47:39
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| This is irrelevant Karen, to your question of your foot pain being TMS or not. I just wanted to make a comment on orthotics in general. I have mixed feeling about them. I've been wearing them for 25 years. I've had terrible ones, okay ones, and currently, excellent, extremely comfortable ones. Do they work or is it a placebo? I don't know, but after all these years I'm not going to experiment. I have heard that the cheap over-the-counter version are just as effective as the $600 pair I wear (insurance pays 100% of it). |
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Singer_Artist
USA
1516 Posts |
Posted - 08/03/2006 : 00:13:33
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I hear you Special One and I understand how you feel...I want to make my TMS work like brushing my teeth..I work at it daily, but I haven't been journaling daily and I know that is very important..I have been getting results from walking (for my neck) but now the foot is making it tough to continue...I appreciate your input and I agree it probably is TMS...The achilles tendon is getting this intermittent sharp like pain, not really a tightness...I did have some tightness in my calf though after I stretched it felt better...It's the bottom of my foot that I am most concerned about..And now I have to make a decision whether to wear the orthodics tomorrow when i walk or not...When I tried walking today without them, it seemed worse...Could be i just need to readjust to not having the orthodics anymore...not sure...
Wrldtrv,
I have had my 300 dollar orthodics for around 5 yrs...I have not had them adjusted since the knee injury that changed the way my foot is 'going..' I was thinking that might be why the foot is hurting,,but probably not because I have been walking for over a week with the orthodics in..Why would it all of a sudden start hurting a couple of days ago? Interestingly, a couple of days ago was when I started working heavily on feeling some very difficult emotions that I have bottled up over the loss of someone dear to me for many years...Thanx for your thoughts.. |
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Dave
USA
1864 Posts |
Posted - 08/03/2006 : 07:38:24
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quote:
Originally posted by Singer_Artist
...but I really don't know with the foot...
If this is your thinking you will have an endless cycle of symptoms, each one raising the question: "Is it or isn't it TMS?"
My concern was not about the foot pain in general but the fact that you are saying things like "the foot that is a bit turned outward" and "still needing to rebuild the quads/hamstrings on that leg from the previous knee injuries".
Previous injuries heal completely. A foot turned outward does not mean it will cause pain. These are fundamental aspects of the TMS theory, explained in Dr. Sarno's books. |
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tennis tom
USA
4749 Posts |
Posted - 08/03/2006 : 08:07:13
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| Dave x2 |
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h2oskier25
USA
395 Posts |
Posted - 08/03/2006 : 13:15:06
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Karen,
See?
I've been trying to tell you YOU DIDN'T INJURE THAT FOOT, and if you did, it would be getting slightly better and stronger every day.
You are really thinking physical.
Part of me wonders . . .
I know you spend a great deal of your time and energy trying to get over this every day, whether it be journaling or trying to get in touch with your feelings of whatever.
But what about when you do conquer this? What then? What will you do? What will you strive for then? Sometimes these can be scary questions when we've been focused on our TMS situation for so long.
So, part of me wonders if it's not the fear of being healthy and having all of your choices returned to you, that might be perpetuating this on some very unconscious level.
Oh, yeah, and Dave X3.
Beth |
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armchairlinguist
USA
1397 Posts |
Posted - 08/03/2006 : 14:04:44
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Karen,
It seems clear that you are getting foot pain because foot pain is the most effective way your body can interfere with your progress at present. You want to walk; if your mind makes your feet hurt, you will be upset because you can't walk. Your emotional energy will be focused on the pain and difficulty and not on your real emotional issues (which it sounds like it has been until the foot started: Good for you!). This is what your unconscious wants.
Don't let it. Blow off the foot pain, assume it's TMS. Don't let it stop you, don't get upset about it, don't worry about it. Get upset about the true issues.
I had foot pain starting Jan. 2004, just as I was beginning to not have such severe RSI that it could by itself occupy my every waking thought. I believed it was because my shoes had worn out, and I had strained my feet walking with insufficient support. I got more supportive shoes, which helped for a while, but it gradually spread to both feet. I got fitted for orthotics and told that I had mild Morton's Foot that was straining the main tendon in the arches of my feet. I wore them until May this year, when I got rid of them along with everything else. I thought I was condemned to never wear cute shoes or comfy sandals anymore -- I was completely wrong. I don't even have a twinge now.
Our feet, like the rest of us, are strong and adaptable. :-)
--
Wherever you go, there you are. |
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symptom imperative/foot pain
