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humbland
3 Posts |
 Posted - 03/08/2009 : 17:21:03
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hi everyone,
I'm new to the forum, but the TMS philosophy has helped me with chronic low back pain.
I'm a 55 yr old male with a lifetime of athletic wear and tear. I'm a national level senior tennis player and I've been struggling to cope with chronic pain in my left knee. It's at the site of a basketball injury from my 20's. I reinjured it 6 months ago and despite all my attempts to treat it with strength and flexibility training the pain is constant. I finally saw a sports med MD who diagnosed a degenerated medial meniscus. I don't want surgery and I don't believe that nsaids or cortisone help things heal, they just mask the symptoms. I'm hoping that someone here can point me in a helpful direction. Any ideas?
Thanks in advance. |
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Peg
USA
284 Posts |
Posted - 03/08/2009 : 18:56:33
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Welcome humbland,
A senior level tennis player. Good for you. Is that a lot of pressure?
The fact that it is at the same location as an injury 20 years ago, shouldn't have any connection. Except maybe that your brain knew you would fall for it, thinking it's physical.
When you say you re-injured it, it sounds like you thought you might have a weakness in the area. A perfect set up for TMS.
Let's say you really did sustain an injury 6 months ago. What got injured, a muscle, a tendon, a ligament? Injuries heal! But TMS goes on and on and on. We worry, we obsess, we catastrophize. We do every thing but face our emotions.
A "degenerated medial meniscus sounds like a gradual process that has occurred and something that does occur with all of our skeletons. Just like I have "degenerative disc disease" in my cervical spine according to MRI. My age is just a little south of yours, so of course I have some degeneration. Such is life. But guess what, that is not what caused my 10 years of pain. It was TMS!
So if you sustained an injury, did you treat it like an acute injury? Ice/rest, later on heat and then a gradual return to activities? Or did you rush into the "strength and flexibility" training? Did you give it a chance to heal?
As you mention, if this is TMS, the physical treatments including surgery will be ineffective.
In The Divided Mind, Dr. Sopher tells a story about a patient of his with significant hip pain, supposedly due to severe arthritis, clearly seen on x-ray. One doctor told the patient that he would need a hip replacement. Dr. Sopher suspected TMS based on the patients personality and asked the patient to allow an x-ray of the "good hip" (the one with NO pain in it). That x-ray revealed a hip joint that was even more arthritic. What does that tell you?
The worrying about it is probably perpetuating it.
I would suggest re-reading Sarno. Writing about your life stresses, pressures, your feelings.
What was going on in your life just before the "injury occurred"? You don't have to answer that here, but I think you should ask yourself that question.
Take care,
Peg
In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual. Galileo Galilei |
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humbland
3 Posts |
Posted - 03/08/2009 : 22:08:07
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Hi Peg,
I believe that pressure is self induced. However, I don't know any national/international level athletes who are not "driven".
The site of the injury has been "weak" for 30 years and has been reinjured several times. I've been an athlete for all of my life, and you learn to put up with a certain "backround noise" level of pain. It's part of the bargain for pushing the limits of your body in your 50's. I treated this injury as I have many others; ice, rest, rehab. Unfortunately, my knee has not calmed down and it is affecting my day to day "quality" of life.
I have given much thought to the anxiety I was feeling prior to the injury, and I have a hypothisis about a root conflict in my life that could have triggered the event. I'm just not sure how to address the fear, and the prospect of facing my athletic mortality is particularly daunting. Much of my identity is "tied up in" being a tennis champion.
Thank you for your suggestion to re-read Sarno.
Does anyone else have any thoughts or suggestions?
Thanks,
Eric |
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weatherman
USA
184 Posts |
Posted - 03/08/2009 : 23:36:50
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Along the same Dr. Sopher line of reasoning - it would be interesting to know if you also have a "degenerating meniscus" in your OTHER knee (the one that doesn't hurt). If both knees are in a similar objective condition, but only one hurts, then that would point to a mind phenomenon.
Weatherman
"Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement." |
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salamander
85 Posts |
Posted - 03/09/2009 : 11:39:24
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| Does your knee swell? Over 30% of people over 40 have some degree of minuscus wear and tear and NO PAIN. I know some that have no minuscus at all and are relatively pain free. Is the medial part of your knee tender to the touch? If so, then this is more of a tendon issue, which, according to Sarno, is TMS. |
Edited by - salamander on 03/09/2009 11:49:06 |
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humbland
3 Posts |
Posted - 03/10/2009 : 07:32:45
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Hi weatherman and salamander,
I'm lucky in that only one knee has constant pain. It's at the site of a decades old injury. I have minimal infusion (swelling) of the joint, so perhaps it could be tendonitis of some kind. The medial aspect of the joint can be tender to the touch, but the pain is more in the interior of the medial side. I've tried orthotics and different footwear, as well as yoga and strength exercises. The sports MD wishes to do an MRI. However from my reading , knee MRIs are inconclusive at best, and I'm not ready to have surgery.
Can anyone direct me to a specific book or website that might help? |
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mk6283
USA
272 Posts |
Posted - 03/10/2009 : 09:16:23
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Have you ever had any other mindbody disorders in the past?
Given the inflammation, I'd get the MRI and then take it from there. Tendinitis is a worthless diagnosis that is often just TMS. You'll never see the word tendinitis in an MRI report because it really doesn't exist. There may be some tendinosis, but that is usually the normal aging process at work and shouldn't cause pain. Despite being a so-called "-itis," there shouldn't be any appreciable swelling in cases of clinically diagnosed tendinitis. Remember, not everything is TMS. A simple arthroscopic procedure CAN make all the difference IF its done when its supposed to be done. If you have no other history of TMS aside from the localized pain in the one knee with an appreciable effusion, then I think that warrants more of a work-up before rushing to call it TMS (I'm not saying it can't be TMS!).
I always tell patients to start by reading: The Mindbody Prescription by John Sarno, MD and then see where that takes you. Good luck!
Best,
MK |
Edited by - mk6283 on 03/10/2009 15:20:21 |
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medial knee pain
