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jerms
3 Posts |
 Posted - 03/07/2007 : 09:42:47
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I'm new, too. And I'm trying to accept the TMS theory but I had specific physical things happen to my back that make it tough to see my pain as purely mental.
When I was in my last year of college, I was skateboarding to class when I tripped and twisted my hip. I was in agonizing pain for a few weeks until I saw a Chinese herbalist/chiropractor couple.
They helped and my back was fine... until I drove across country after graduation and all those days sitting in the car re-awoke the pain. So, again I went to chiropractors.
My back pain was pretty manageable until a few years later when I was lifting one of those water bottle drums at work to put on its stand when I felt something in my back shift and I was in pain again. I saw a chiropractor but the pain seemed to persist because of the car I was driving - a 2-seater which didn't let me scoot the seat back very far. I finally sold the car a few months later, but I felt like I had done permanent damage to my back. I had x-rays taken and they found a herniated disc and gave me the story about the vertebrae touching and pinching my nerves, etc.
So, I tried something called Vax-D. It's basically like being strapped to 'the rack' and being pulled. The idea is that the stretching relieves the compression on your spine and allows the discs to spring back into shape. It felt kind of good, but didn't seem to have any last effect.
Nowadays, my range of motion is pretty limited by pain. It used to hurt to sit, but now it's just certain movements - like bending over the sink - that remind me that something is still wrong with my back.
Yes, my personality fits the TMS description - conscientious, worried, sensitive, afraid that I'll have to get surgery, etc. BUT... I feel like along with the psychological issues, there have been physical events that caused this pain...
Can the lasting pain really be mental?
thanks for reading this. |
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Dave
USA
1864 Posts |
Posted - 03/07/2007 : 10:51:02
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Everything you say fits with TMS. It is important that you read Dr. Sarno's book. I would suggest Healing Back Pain.
You may well have had an injury from the first skateboarding injury. But if the pain miraculously disappeared when you saw the herbalist and chiropractor, it was likely a placebo cure. The injury had healed, yet the pain persisted for psychological reasons.
It is important to accept that our bodies heal completely from injuries. Even if the skateboarding accident was a real injury it does not mean that you are prone to "re-injury".
You blame the pain on the car you were driving. This is classic TMS conditioning. You settle on what you believe is a valid physical reason for the pain, and then the conditioning process ensures that you feel pain when you expect it, i.e., when you drive the car.
The answer to your question is YES. Lasting pain can really be mental, and often is. You need to break out of the physical trap. Read Dr. Sarno's book. Then accept the pain is psychological and stop all physical treatments. Accept that relief you felt in the past from chiropractors and other modalities was a placebo. Slowly resume physical activity and explore the true reason for the pain: repressed RAGE. |
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sonora sky
USA
181 Posts |
Posted - 03/07/2007 : 11:37:04
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Hi jerms, welcome.
The human body cannot be injured by any seat, chair, sofa, bed, pillow, etc. (I know you didn't mention all these, but these are all typical sources on which people tend to blame the pain. For me, it was pillows and my neck. Now I know the shape, firmness, etc. of the pillow has nothing to do with my pain.) I say this because this is what chiropractors (and other doctors) have led us to believe (that chairs, improper posture, etc. are the sources of our pain). In this day and age, we are really conditioned by comfort. I always like to think of how people have lived well (without "ergonomic" chairs) for thousands of years. Back pain is a relatively recent crisis, a modern (mid-late 20th century) one, in fact. It's important explore other possible sources in this epidemic of chronic pain.
It's normal to experience some acute discomfort when sitting in a position you are not accustomed to (such as a new chair), but this should subside within a few days as your muscles adapt.
ss |
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shawnsmith
Czech Republic
2048 Posts |
Posted - 03/07/2007 : 11:41:58
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It is important to de-link the physical injury you experienced years ago from your current pain. The only way the two are related is that your brain, in order to provide a cover for what it is really taking place on the inside, wants to give you the impression that your pain is due to your injury, that you have a physical problem. You have to keep telling youself that your pain is not due to that injury or else the pain will persist.
*************
Sarno-ize it!
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jerms
3 Posts |
Posted - 03/07/2007 : 21:19:42
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Thanks for all the feedback, so far.
I'm a little bummed out, but the book I have is 'Mind Over Back Pain' which was the only book by Sarno when I went to the bookstore. It sounds like this was written when he was still figuring out his theory... and to be honest, it's more like an inflated pamphlet than a real book.
So, I'm not sure what the next step for me is... I mean, my whole life my dad suffered from back pain and told me it was genetic and that if I wasn't careful with my health and committed to getting exercise, I would have the same problems as him... and he really suffered - his back would 'go out' every 6 months, he had painful back surgery, etc. And he kept reiterating that all of this was mine to inherit!
Having reading about TMS now, I have to say that I'm really sad that my dad didn't have the opportunity to find out about his theories as well because it could have helped him a lot, possibly saved his life.
I wouldn't say that I have been holding back rage inside of me. It's more like sadness and frustration with myself.
I'm not sure what the next step for me is... therapy? more books? physical therapy?
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sonora sky
USA
181 Posts |
Posted - 03/07/2007 : 21:47:20
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Hi jerms,
Yes, MOBP was one of Sarno's early (earliest?) works on TMS, as you can see by the copyright date... If you're ready to jump into a more in-depth read, get his latest, The Divided Mind. If your local bookstore doesn't have it, try your local library, or amazon (where you can browse the contents before you buy). This one's really meaty, and half the book is comprised of essays by other doctors' experiences with TMS patients.
I'm sorry to hear about your dad's long suffering with back pain. Perhaps Sarno could have been helpful to him, but often people just aren't "ready" to hear alternative approaches like Sarnos' for various reasons. You will find that many take offense from being told that they (their minds, really) are responsible for creating and perpetuating their own pain. But the positive aspect is, once you learn the true source(s) of the pain, you know that recovery is possible.
It sounds like you have a lot of mental conditioning to overcome (including the constant mantra from your father that you were destined to suffer as he did). Understand that the process of dealing with these emotional and mental issues is often a slow one, with some ups and downs. Creatures of habit, it takes time to reprogram our minds after years and years of thinking in certain ways.
I would say absolute 'no' on physical therapy, as this runs counter to your acceptence of the pain as harmless to your body (one of Sarno's main tenets--this should be outlined more clearly in any of his later books). (i.e. if your body is not "injured," why would one need physical therapy?)
Therapy is an option, but I'd try other approaches first, such as journaling, reading (and re-reading--again, it takes a while for these new concepts to sink in) Sarno's books, and simply implementing the concepts on your own (and/or with the help of this forum). There are others who have written on TMS that you may also be interested in, such as Sopher, Schechter, Amir, and Brady, to name a few.
good luck!
ss |
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Baseball65
USA
734 Posts |
Posted - 03/08/2007 : 21:18:45
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quote:
Originally posted by jerms
my whole life my dad suffered from back pain and told me it was genetic and that if I wasn't careful with my health and committed to getting exercise, I would have the same problems as him... and he really suffered - his back would 'go out' every 6 months, he had painful back surgery, etc. And he kept reiterating that all of this was mine to inherit!
Wow....
My Dad had 'Ulcers' that they never seem to find, but they went ahead and treated anyways (those were popular in the 40's and 50's)
I wonder sometimes, if my dad didn't kill himself and leave me fatherless if I would have had stomach trouble instead of back pain????
I would be surprised, with a prediction so bleak if you Didn't get back pain. Sarno discusses the 'Nocebo' (the reverse of a placebo) in "the mindbody presciption"
The gentleman who turned me onto Sarno actually recovered using the book you have. The only major difference in his theory (I've been told) is that in Healing back Pain ,after years of working with psychologists he added the idea of the Pain being a defense against a percieved threat of emotional outbreak via the subconscious.I believe in your book he wrote that they were only an expression of the suppressed rage. Sarno and his coworkers seemd to think that the defense theory accounted more accurately for the anecdotal evidence that saw.
I browsed Mind over back pain and I sometimes wonder if I would have 'gotten it' with all those pictures that look so much like every other book I read before I was completely healed.
I read 'Healing Back Pain' and have only perused, but never immersed myself in his further writings. I recomend that book highly. I am 100% recovered and have zero pain,fully active and still skateboarding and doing hard manual labor at age 41 (and making young guys look bad...my fav)....and this is 8 years later.
good luck to you. I think you're on the right path.
There were many people I wish I could have turned onto Sarno ....I have a standing bet with any pain sufferer that if they read HBP cover to cover and don't get better,I'll buy the book from the for twice what they paid (and I've upped the offer a few times)
Needless to say, I have NEVER had to pay up. Every one who read it all the way through got better. All of the scoffers never finished it!!
peace
=Marc |
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jerms
3 Posts |
Posted - 03/13/2007 : 20:27:12
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Thanks SS and Marc.
It turns out I actually live about 3 blocks from one of Dr. Schechter's offices - so it's tempting to schedule an appointment. I have x-rays of my back to show him but I'm wondering if I'll get the old sales pitch: "I see what the problem is. You need to buy my series of videos and books in order to be cured!"
Is that overly cynical of me? |
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tennis tom
USA
4749 Posts |
Posted - 03/13/2007 : 20:41:48
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quote:
Originally posted by jerms
Thanks SS and Marc.
It turns out I actually live about 3 blocks from one of Dr. Schechter's offices - so it's tempting to schedule an appointment. I have x-rays of my back to show him but I'm wondering if I'll get the old sales pitch: "I see what the problem is. You need to buy my series of videos and books in order to be cured!"
Is that overly cynical of me?
Hi Jerms,
Yes that's cynical--but not overly. It's your mindbody and you should be cautious, involved and cynical if need be. The cost of whatever TMS materials Dr. Schechter might suggest you purchase, pales to the cost of conventional med/industrial costs, PT, alternative medicine, snake oils, etc, etc.
For most TMS doctors and probably Dr. Schecher's, their TMS practice is a sideline in comparison to their conventional pracitce. Mainly because very few of their patients are the least bit interested in TMS.
Good Luck and keep us posted.
tt
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another newbie
