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mala
Hong Kong
774 Posts |
 Posted - 06/08/2008 : 19:38:49
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I know that Sarno says that he finds the whole idea of inflammation rather dubious and that there is no proof that inflammation exists but I have an area in my lower back which burns & throbs and hurts and is always comparitively hotter than other areas around it. Wouldn't that qualify as inflammation?
Thanks.
Good Luck & Good Health
Mala |
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armchairlinguist
USA
1397 Posts |
Posted - 06/08/2008 : 20:09:55
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Where did Sarno say anything like that?
Inflammation exists, just like pain exists. The question is, what causes it?
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It's not 100% belief that's required, but 100% commitment. |
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mala
Hong Kong
774 Posts |
Posted - 06/08/2008 : 20:34:26
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From HBP Pgs 118-119
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Inflammation must be discussed for it is the explanation presented for many cases of upper & lower back pain and is the basis for the prescription of both steroidal & nonsteroidal anti inflammatory drugs. Experience with the diagnosis and treatment of TMS makes it clear that the source of the pain is neither spinal structures nor inflammation. An inflammatory process is a reaction to disease or injury; it is basically a protective healing process. The response to an invading bacteria or virus is an inflammation.
If that's what an inflammatory process is, what is going on in the back? Is it an infection, a response to a back injury-or what? No satisfacory scientific supported answer has ever been given. It has been suggested in this book that the source of the pain is oxygen deprivation and not inflammation. This idea has at least a modicum of support from the rheumatologic studies on fibromyalgia.
Good Luck & Good Health
Mala |
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armchairlinguist
USA
1397 Posts |
Posted - 06/08/2008 : 23:22:35
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That doesn't say that inflammation doesn't exist, just that it's not a plausible explanation for the pain, and that the process creating 'inflammation' symptoms may or may not be actual inflammation.
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It's not 100% belief that's required, but 100% commitment. |
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hottm8oh
USA
141 Posts |
Posted - 06/09/2008 : 12:04:24
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One of the first indicators for me that I had TMS involved heat. I've had bad IBS for years which usually results in bad cramps and severe diarrhea. My tummy has felt very good for the past few years and I've had fewer and fewer incidences of the Big D. A few weeks ago, I had a typical IBS attack. It wasn't bad, but the sudden onset of cramps told me it was IBS and not the flu or some other illness. After I left the bathroom and sat back down in my chair, the entire right side of my back got hot and stayed that way for about 30 minutes. It was a serious lightbulb moment for me that there is a connection.
I do not know if Sarno has ever addressed heat, but I've felt it. |
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positivevibes
204 Posts |
Posted - 06/10/2008 : 01:36:11
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Well when you think about it....when you have an emotional reaction, don't you sometimes feel "flushed"? You can feel heat in your cheeks if you have extreme embarrassment. So perhaps it's not too far-fetched to think that an emotional reaction to something might cause another part of your body to feel hot, flushed, or tingly. Or of course cause a gastro-intestinal response. How many times have you felt "sick to your stomach" when you got bad news? It seems perfectly logical that there's a connection between our emotions and our bodies. We see and feel it happen all the time -- but in those instances it doesn't cause us pain and it's usually fleeting.
Dr. Schechter augments Dr. Sarno's theory by saying that he thinks that TMS is a mis-firing of the autonomic nervous system. If that is really the case, then feeling hot, flushed, or tingly could definitely be a symptom. Perhaps we TMS people just get unusual or extreme reactions to repressing emotions or to being overly stressed. Perhaps our autonomic nervous systems are mis-directing those feelings to our backs, necks, stomachs, etc.
I've always wondered -- if there's no inflammation, then why do anti-inflammatories take away the pain? Placebo? Could it really be a placebo effect MOST of the time? Or is the oxygen deprivation causing some sort of inflammation?
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You are not your mind; you are not your thoughts. The incessant mental noise [of your thoughts] creates a false mind-made self that causes fear and suffering and prevents you from connecting with your true self and living in the Now. - Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now |
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Dave
USA
1864 Posts |
Posted - 06/10/2008 : 09:12:11
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I personally do not agree that inflammation is not involved with TMS.
An inflammatory response is a reaction (or overreaction) of the immune system, so it seems plausible to me that the brain can manipulate this response to its benefit. If the brain can reduce blood flow, as Dr. Sarno surmises, then why is it unrealistic to believe that it can cause a misdirected inflammatory response?
I personally believe the details of how the physical symptoms are produced are unknown. Luckily, it doesn't matter, because it is only necessary to accept that the symptoms are psychogenic, and not to understand the physiological details. |
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positivevibes
204 Posts |
Posted - 06/10/2008 : 12:00:13
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I think that just recognizing that some pain is a TMS attack is helpful. Knowing, as Dr. Sarno says, that it is "harmless." I keep repeating that to myself if I feel pain that I think is TMS.
"It's harmless, it's harmless, it's just mild oxygen deprivation -- there's no logical physical reason for me to hurt right now -- my brain is doing it to me again! Hey brain, cut it out!" I take some Tylenol and try to forget about it. :-)
I find that many times, just forcing myself stop thinking about the pain helps make it go away. If something were truly inflamed (like from a fracture or sprain), you could yell at the pain for hours and it probably wouldn't make a difference.
I still don't know if "real" inflammation is involved in TMS pain or not. It would be good to prove it once and for all -- if there's a test to show that something is actually inflamed, instead of assuming that it's inflamed because there's pain.
I was told for years by orthopedists that my back hurt because the discs were pressing on the nerves and causing inflammation -- and that cortisone would calm down the inflammation. I never did get any cortisone shots (and glad that I was able to avoid them). Dr. Sarno totally debunks that theory. I still remember how relieved I was the first time I read his opinion of disc pain in Healing Back Pain.
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You are not your mind; you are not your thoughts. The incessant mental noise [of your thoughts] creates a false mind-made self that causes fear and suffering and prevents you from connecting with your true self and living in the Now. - Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now |
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