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Logan
USA
203 Posts |
 Posted - 01/12/2008 : 10:16:24
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Hi all,
I'm hoping you can help me help my husband.
I have been TMS free for four+ years now. My situation is somewhat typical in that my husband supported me throughout my year-long recovery process, and he fully believed that my pain was psychogenic but he doesn't see how he might have TMS himself (knee pain that comes and goes mysteriously).
He has seen me in excruciating pain from TMS spasms in my neck/shoulders/arms (which I no longer have). He's seen me go from being a person who depended on physical therapy, heating pads and muscle relaxers to a person who stopped seeing all of her various practicioners, threw out all of her drugs, special pillows, etc. and took up downhill skiing and cross-country bike riding, completely pain free...
And yet, he still believes his MD's diagnosis of his knee pain as "chondromalacia" or "patellar-femoral syndrome." When he was in college more than 10 years ago, a university med center doctor told him this problem would worsen over the years and that he'd eventually have to get surgery to correct the alignment of his patellar femoral tendons. And he's, understandably, internalized this nocebo so that now, with a recent and chronic flare up of knee pain, he's thinking that this is finally it, surgery time.
He's somewhat open to my suggestion that he try working the Sarno approach instead of going under the knife because when we first met and married, I had the same unpredictable and mysterious attacks of extreme knee pain and also the same diagnosis from my MD - that the knee cap wasn't tracking correctly etc. but that has completely stopped bothering me since I've cured myself from TMS.
And I wasn't even concerned about my knees when I began doing the TMS work, I just wanted my upper body to feel better.
: )
What I think would really help my husband be more open to Sarno's theory as it applies to knees is to read about someone whose primary TMS symptom was this kind of knee pain (with a similar structural diagnosis) and to see that they were able to cure themselves of it using Sarno's methods.
I've searched in Success Stories under "knee" and "patella" but haven't found exactly what I'd hoped to find, which is a detailed account of someone using MBP or Divided Mind to overcome the nocebo of "chondromalacia" or "patella-femoral syndrome."
Is there anyone out there who'd be willing to share their story? I don't want my sweet husband to go under the knife and scare up his beautiful legs with a surgery that probably won't help him...
Thanks!
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mk6283
USA
272 Posts |
Posted - 01/12/2008 : 14:18:35
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I definitely know the feeling. Every time a new TMS symptom popped up for me I rushed to this forum to "confirm" that it was indeed a TMS equivalent. That alone was often enough to help me get through it. It is that type of reassurance that makes this forum, or seeing a TMS physician for that matter, so invaluable.
As for the knee pain, I personally have not experienced any (yet). However, I am fairly certain that Dr. Sarno discusses both of the structural findings/conditions that you mention in his books and mentions that they are inherently benign and do not cause pain (cf. minor disc herniations). If I recall correctly, Drs. Schechter and Sopher both used Dr. Sarno's ideas to recover from their own knee pain, but I do not recall their pre-TMS diagnoses (Dr. Schechter's may have been tendonitis). Either way, I see no harm in treating either of these conditions as TMS before rushing into surgery. Good luck.
Best,
MK |
Edited by - mk6283 on 01/12/2008 14:26:50 |
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Scottydog
United Kingdom
330 Posts |
Posted - 01/12/2008 : 23:08:21
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I had knee pain. We have a large 4x4 with a gearbox (shiftstick) so driving can be quite hard on the legs, constantly pressing on the clutch. My knee pain seemed logical as I am getting older, my mother had a replacement in her same knee and has arthritis.
It was very on and off which seemed odd - then I realised that I only suffered when I went to visit my mother, take my kids to university or pick them up (with a ton of stuff) from university. The knee pain was suppressed irritaion at my 'duties'. Perhaps your husband has a similar cause. |
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skizzik
USA
783 Posts |
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weatherman
USA
184 Posts |
Posted - 01/13/2008 : 15:56:13
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Hopefully this story will be encouraging. I had two bouts of chondromalacia, one in 1979 and one in 1981. Both were from "overdoing" long-distance bike rides. As you probably know, it's not a discomfort one typically gets over in a few weeks. The worst thing about it was that it made my true pleasure (hiking up mountains) quite painful.
A few months after the 1981 event I was still in lots of discomfort, not exercising and worried that my hiking career was over. I went to see a very well-known orthopod, and rather than suggesting surgery he gave me some great advice. Basically said that chondromalacia is a nuisance, but seldom cripples anyone - and that I should go ahead and do whatever I wanted. If I could stand the pain, I wasn't really going to hurt anything. He even said that he knew people with no cartilage left on their kneecaps who were totally pain-free. It sounded a bit crazy, but I took his advice and started doing big climbs weekly. Within about a month the pain was virtually gone, and the knees have given me no significant trouble to this day (better knock on wood ). I don't know if the TMS theory was even around back then, but I'm sure that just being told not to worry by an "expert" was a big part of my recovery.
I've been dealing with some off and on achilles issues for a few years, and it's just about made me nostalgic for chondromalacia.
"Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement." |
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art
1903 Posts |
Posted - 07/04/2010 : 14:15:06
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Hey guys,
Just found this old thread on knee pain. Since I've suddenly got some soreness after a not very very long or difficult run, it's just what I needed. Thought I'd give it a bump...
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Edited by - art on 07/04/2010 19:46:36 |
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looking for knee pain success stories
