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dewiniaeth
13 Posts |
 Posted - 07/15/2008 : 16:35:06
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I've been suffering from tingling in my ring finger (which has scared me a bit), general soreness in my hands (they felt like they were going to fall off like stones if I walked even a mile), muscle tension in my forearms, and sensitivity/soreness at my elbows. Interestingly, the elbow soreness didn't even start until after I got a diagnosis of "referred pain from the elbow" (pinched ulnar nerve?) from my doctor. It's hard not to treat extreme tingling in my finger as something non-physical -- especially since it gets worse when I type. I'm working on it.
I'm about 80% better, I'd say, since reading Sarno's book and applying his method. The elbow pain is the one symptom I haven't been able to fully convince myself is not a physical problem. Maybe partly because I would have thought it would go away if I just ignored it, and when it doesn't, I start to feel that maybe it's physical. It's the one symptom that doesn't really move around so much: my other pain moved from one place to the other and didn't stay in one place for long (with the exception of the finger pain.)
So, if I type a lot, or swim a lot, or bike a lot, will I not get worse? Is it possible to overdo it?
This is strange to me, because that's what happened before: the more I typed, or swam, the more I hurt. It's hard to convince myself that this will not happen anymore. (Yes, I've been able to type a whole lot more than I used to be able to, but I still get sore after a while, and I think it's real physical pain from typing. Is it?) Now that I'm applying Sarno's method is this going to change -- am I going to be able to do things without the pain going out of control and being out of commission for an extended period of time?
Yeah, a friend just expressed concern about me because I was using this approach, and thought I might make things worse -- which immediately exacerbated my symptoms. There's one thing maybe you could help me with: with all the warnings against excessive typing, and the stories I've read about being crippled and all of that if you ignore the symptoms, how do I fully embrace Sarno's approach? Is there anything you could offer by way of information that will assure me that these things that seem to happen to a lot of people won't happen to me?
I also wonder: I'm very introspective and in tune with my emotions as it is -- and I'm an avid journaler -- so I'm a little bit skeptical that doing further psychological work as Sarno suggests would be beneficial to me. Anyone else have/had similar feelings that might have advice?
Can anyone assure me that if I continue to type (I transcribe for a living, which means typing a lot) I'll be fine? It's just nice to hear it!
I know that's a lot of questions, but thanks so much! |
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ChrisSC
25 Posts |
Posted - 07/15/2008 : 18:38:34
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Welcome and congrats on 80% better!
"the more I typed, or swam, the more I hurt. It's hard to convince myself that this will not happen anymore. (Yes, I've been able to type a whole lot more than I used to be able to, but I still get sore after a while, and I think it's real physical pain from typing. Is it?)"
You still get sore after a while because you are conditioned to not because its 'real physical pain'. The increase in pain the more you do an activity is TMS's sly way of tricking us into associating physical activity with pain.
Your elbow pain is interesting but not surprising. When your doctor told you had referred pain from your elbow, TMS said "Oh boy! That'll be a good place to go... the doctor said there's something physically wrong!" If your elbow pain was truly physical in origin, what are the chances that it just happened to start once you were told something was wrong structurally? Not very high. The unconscious mind purposely picks symptoms that will seem physical.
"with all the warnings against excessive typing, and the stories I've read about being crippled and all of that if you ignore the symptoms, how do I fully embrace Sarno's approach? Is there anything you could offer by way of information that will assure me that these things that seem to happen to a lot of people won't happen to me?"
It's warning like these that fuel the TMS fire. I get very frustrated by commercials on TV for back pain solutions, etc. because its things like these that give TMS something to feed on. They wrongfully instill doubt about the resilience of the human body. If you have already made an 80% recovery from following Sarno, that should be evidence enough that you aren't doing permanent damage to your arms or hands by typing. For the people that are 'crippled' by it, they reach that level of pain because they expect to. You have the upper-hand over your symptoms because you know about the real psychological cause for your pain and so it shouln't get worse. If it does get worse temporarily it is only TMS testing you, trying to create doubt about Sarno's methods so that it can continue using its strategy of distraction. Regardless, you are not doing any harm to your body.
"I also wonder: I'm very introspective and in tune with my emotions as it is -- and I'm an avid journaler -- so I'm a little bit skeptical that doing further psychological work as Sarno suggests would be beneficial to me"
But are these conscious or unconscious emotions? I don't think we ever can truly know everything that is going on in the unconscious emotionally, there's always more to be found. You should continue to do the psychological work, but you don't need to it in excess. Even if it's just a few minutes here and there, it should be beneficial.
"Can anyone assure me that if I continue to type (I transcribe for a living, which means typing a lot) I'll be fine? It's just nice to hear it!"
Yes, you'll be fine! You wouldn't have made this much progress if something was physcially wrong. If you do A LOT of typing, your body is probably quite adapted to it and even more capable of typing for hours and hours than most people!! 'Overuse injuries' or 'RSI'(aside from something as absurd as running a marathon after 0 hours of training) don't even make logical sense really; The human body is excellent at adapting to stresses!
Hope that helped :) |
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armchairlinguist
USA
1397 Posts |
Posted - 07/16/2008 : 11:22:07
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quote:
the elbow soreness didn't even start until after I got a diagnosis of "referred pain from the elbow" (pinched ulnar nerve?) from my doctor
ChrisSC's post is great but I just wanted to call double attention to this. Pain moving to where you've been told it will go, or getting worse after someone tells you it might get worse, is CLASSIC TMS.
You should read all the RSI success stories in the Success Story section of the forum. And Nate and Rachel's pages (http://conquerrsi.com http://podolsky.everybody.org/rsi). You will have so much confidence you won't know what to do with it. :)
Typing is not dangerous, and no, if you are at a good level of healthy activity you cannot overdo it. Don't go out and run a marathon tomorrow, but you can do anything that any healthy person can do. Walk, run, bike, swim, type, everything. The only thing to watch is to go at a level that you're comfortable with because if the pain kicks up as a conditioned response, it can undermine your confidence. But if you keep your confidence you will be fine.
Regarding journaling:
YES, do the work recommended by Sarno. This type of journaling is not the same as what most people do. It is a form of pressure release and needs to be done with the intent of accessing possibilities about repressed emotions and their connection to pain. It's partly intellectual, but a lot of it is about seeing the pressures written down and acknowledged, and you may find that some emotion releases too. Trust me on this because I have kept a journal since I was in high school and it did not stop me from getting TMS (though it probably put it off for a while!).
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What were you expecting? |
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dewiniaeth
13 Posts |
Posted - 07/18/2008 : 17:21:26
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Thank you so much. I typed quite a bit last night, and it was painful afterwards and today, but not nearly so bad as usual. I'm trying to keep in mind that even though I'm aware of the mechanics of TMS it does often take a while to get better.
One interesting thing I find is that, since I'm building confidence that swimming is not going to hurt me, my pain actually goes away when I swim. I used to take a lot of anti-inflammatories but now I just swim -- because it teaches me that physical activity is not going to injure me further, and so, somehow, it actually lessens the pain. So, a lot of times, when I'm sitting around and in pain, I just decide to go for a swim, and that makes it better. Anyone else find that physical activity actually helps ease symptoms? |
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dewiniaeth
13 Posts |
Posted - 07/18/2008 : 17:29:15
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| Oh, and now, the pain thinks it can trick me by moving to my back. I don't mind the back pain so much, though, as I've had backaches come and go, and I don't have any fear that it's a physical disorder. |
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armchairlinguist
USA
1397 Posts |
Posted - 07/18/2008 : 20:46:39
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Physical exercise helps with TMS pain because it increases bloodflow, which is restricted in the TMS process. The fact that this happens is a strong sign that your issue is TMS!
Good for you on the swimming. Just keep adding activities to the list. :)
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What were you expecting? |
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ChrisSC
25 Posts |
Posted - 07/18/2008 : 20:51:13
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"since I'm building confidence that swimming is not going to hurt me, my pain actually goes away when I swim"
Exactly! TMS loses its power when you stop fearing it.
I also have found that physical activity lessens the pain. I think it is because you are proving to yourself that your body is fine, and showing TMS that you aren't taking it seriously. The best example of this I have comes from when I started doing TMS work. Most of my primary symptoms lessened from reading Mindbody Prescription, but suddenly my lower back pain (the site of a bulged disc) went to a level it had never been before. After a few weeks of unsuccessfully trying to "think it away" I decided to try a different approach. For about an hour I bent, twisted, and jolted my back at awkward angles all the while "talking to my brain" about why I believed my back was normal. TMS hasn't targeted my back since; despite the bulged disc, I no longer have back pain.
The above instance was the only time I've been able to make a symptom vanish on the spot, though. You are right in saying that it does take a while to get better. It is sometimes frustrating when it feels like you aren't progressing fast enough, so just remind yourself that small progress is still progress. |
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armchairlinguist
USA
1397 Posts |
Posted - 07/19/2008 : 08:14:15
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Another thing about the "small progress" bit -- particularly with RSI, the "conventional" view is that virtually anything can make you worse. So ANY type of progress -- even if it's staying the same after being active, and certainly if there is improvement -- is a positive sign, and a sign that the physical view is not applicable and the TMS view is.
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What were you expecting? |
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dewiniaeth
13 Posts |
Posted - 07/20/2008 : 12:26:18
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The tingling/pain in my ring finger is the one symptom I'm still concerned about and worry about injuring (even though, ironically, even my doctor and PT agree that there is nothing wrong with my finger.) It's still what I'm most concerned about injuring. (And if I "injure" it again it's going to be another few months before I'm able to type again...)
It was the first symptom that started all of this, when I typed too quickly on a typing test and didn't ignore pain that was coming on, and then immediately started a job typing non-stop 6 hours a day. It felt like I tore a ligament or something -- I feel a sort of tightness between my ring and middle fingers.
The pain in the finger doesn't seem to follow the pattern of the other symptoms. Most of the time, I don't feel it even when my symptoms are bad, and then when I've typed a bit, it's the last symptom to start to go away. Unlike the other symptoms, the pain in my finger does seem to go away with rest. The bone/knuckle are painful and it feels like I'm pushing down too hard on the keys. When I open and close my fingers I feel a tingling between two fingers and in my palm, in a sort of line... I don't know if that's what others on this forum mean when they refer to "stringiness."
Are these symptoms TMS? Can anyone relate at all? |
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dewiniaeth
13 Posts |
Posted - 07/20/2008 : 12:36:15
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quote:
Unlike the other symptoms, the pain in my finger does seem to go away with rest.
That came out wrong. I just meant that, now that I've done the TMS stuff, I get mostly better overnight after typing, but it's the one symptom that still lingers. |
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ChrisSC
25 Posts |
Posted - 07/20/2008 : 14:07:47
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"It was the first symptom that started all of this, when I typed too quickly on a typing test and didn't ignore pain that was coming on"
This might be part of the reason the symptom remains. Whether you realized it or not, even your description of when it started suggested you were "too hard" on it physically. I don't know the circumstances of the typing test but it sounds to me like it might have been stressful (on YOU, not your finger), so if this is the case then it's not really surprising a new symptom popped up.
As far as it not following the pattern of the other symptoms, this doesn't really matter. Some of my symptoms get better from rest, some get worse from rest, some are aggravated by stress, others are aggravated by relaxation.
"Most of the time, I don't feel it even when my symptoms are bad"
If by this you mean, 'when my other symptoms are acting up... I don't feel the ring finger pain' then this is 100% consistent with TMS. It's almost like we have a 'distraction quota'. By this I mean that the sum severity of our symptoms seems to be proportional to our need for distraction at any given moment. As an example, when I run now I often feel hip/knee/shin pain but it starts to go away near the end of my run when I'm out of breath. It's like the heavy breathing and burning in my lungs has taken over the role of the pain. One symptom can carry the weight of another symptom in a similar fashion.
Pain going away with rest is quite an ingenious attempt by TMS to make it seem physical, but it's not.
"And if I "injure" it again it's going to be another few months before I'm able to type again..."
Let go of this fear! Even your doctor and PT are telling you it's not a physical problem! I'm currently struggling with a similar thought pattern that seems to be creeping in. Even though I know my pain from running is purely TMS, I'm still afraid of "injury" from it. This is hard to shake, but I've done it with most of my other symptoms so I'm sure it can be done.
So yes, this is very consistent with TMS, especially if even doctors are saying you are okay (I wish my doctors would've said that!).
On a humorous side-note.... both of my ring fingers started aching about halfway through writing this reply! Gotta love TMS.. haha |
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armchairlinguist
USA
1397 Posts |
Posted - 07/20/2008 : 18:37:50
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quote:
(And if I "injure" it again it's going to be another few months before I'm able to type again...)
This is a false assumption left over from your previous beliefs. In fact even if you experienced a worsening in symptoms you could type as much as you wanted the next day and not hurt yourself.
It's not uncommon for the first symptoms to appear to be the last to go away, because the physical belief about them and conditioning surrounding them is the most ingrained. Give it some patience. Remember, the fact that you are doing so much better is very strong evidence that you don't have a physical problem.
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What were you expecting? |
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My "RSI" is 80% better!
