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Originally posted by lindaleyner

I noticed today that I am very afraid of hurting myself for now, or some time in the future (things like runners knee, something on the spine, hallux valgus on the feet etc.) but mostly in the hand. I want to pick up a job for which I need my hands every day and well..I´m afraid of doing some damage..any strategies?

Do you think that things like e.g. runners knee are basically TMS? I read an interesting article that said humans were made to run and so on..so..how is e.g. a runners knee even possible?
You see, I´m afraid of ...getting myself disabled because I work trough the pain of my RSI.

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Originally posted by lindaleyner
You see, I´m afraid of ...getting myself disabled because I work trough the pain of my RSI.

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Originally posted by lindaleyner

Thanks for encoursging me and give me some advise, Dave.
It´s hard to forget all the things I´ve been told about my hands. I used to play computer games in my spare-time (loved RPGS) but then were told by several people (in a RSI self-help forum) that my tendonitis would become chronic if I continued with it. And well, it did...but I´d love to play a new game that is being released in August.. I have hope that my journaling excercises etc. help me so that I can be able to play it.

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Originally posted by lindaleyner

hello there!

I´m a 17-year-old girl from europe. Since I witnessed an accident (a guy fell in front of a train)last year I´ve been fighting wqith myself. First I had panic attacks..then hypochondriasis (health fears), then since octobre severe RSI (couldn´t type or writze without having severe pain; doctor said it would go away with ibuprofen or that I should cope with living with it. During this time my health phobia was quite easy to handle, almost non-existent. Then, after a very painful (mental and physical) search on the internet, I found the TMS approach from Sarno. I bought "TMP" and read it...now I´m writing these sentences with little pain, nothing compared to what I used to have 4 weeks ago. But: My health phobia is there again!
Is it TMS related? I´m having psychotherapy (helped me with rsi a lot, he´s very profesional and kept saying I could get better) but I´m still at the beginning, thinking abaout early childhood and so on.
Is there a chance to get rid of the RSI (now I´m having more pain .guess it´s the thinking about it) AND the hypochondriasis?

I´m writing on a laptop, with bad ergonomics but I guess that has nothing to do with it..? Still struggling..

thanks
forgive my bad english, not a native speaker..

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Originally posted by lindaleyner
The best example is my best friend. He love computer games, too, but he plays a lot more than I ever did. His ergonomics are non-existent and the game is very mouse-intensive and you have to react really fast. Sometimes he even plays without taking long breaks - but no pain problems in sight. He´s perfectly fine.

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Originally posted by lindaleyner

I started palying 5 minutes and it wasn´t that bad..I tought it to be more painful - like the last time I tried - but it was okay. Still pain - but that´s the progress.

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Relentlessly playing videogames is exactly what I did, after learning about tms. That, I assure you, contributed to my recovery immensely! I reconditioned myself by facing what a feared most: using my hands for an activity as strenuous and repetitive as gaming.

I urge you to believe me when I say that - after clearing healing back pain in one sitting one evening, approximately a year ago, I grabbed my nintendo ds the very next day, and started playing, intensively, relentlessly and excessively. It was my way of resuming the (physical) activities I had put on hold out of fear - not necessity - of the RSI. Since I could do everything I wanted to – it was but a dull pain, it was the fear that debilitated me - but I chose not to, so as to not aggravate my arms.

I have to admit that I was not fearless from the very beginning. I had conditioned myself to the point where not a minute would pass without me scanning and analyzing everything that could potentially aggravate my RSI. As a matter of fact, I monitored my pain levels constantly. When I assessed my condition however - after spending hours upon hours bombarding enemy tanks, gaining levels successively, scrolling through endless walls of text, and catching the occasional pokémon - I fortunately did not notice any sign of deterioration whatsoever. I was pleasantly surprised to say the least. I was really relieved.

Needless to say, I didn't time my irresponsible gaming behaviour. Moreover, nearly a year passed since then, and the initial novelty has gone. Still, I vividly recall making excessive use of both my computer and my handheld relentlessly the following days and weeks.

Back then, I spent more and more time playing videogames, typing, writing, scrolling and clicking, everything with increasingly less inhibition. And the fear that enveloped me decreased. *In that order.*

10 months ago, I thought with dread of the years to come. As a matter of fact, I pictured myself carrying this burden for the rest of my life. To be honest, I was consumed by fear. In hindsight, it was the prospect of being handicapped by RSI permanently that debilitated me. Not so much the physical pain I felt. It was but a dull pain. However, the fear that it emanated was what truly suffocated me.

Simultaneously, I felt my life had just begun, yet it was already soiled by this sordid disease. I was really depressed and disappointed every single time I woke up in the morning, only to discover that the pain had neither decreased, let alone vanished. Since you are extremely young as well, I am certain that you can relate to my anxiety.

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Originally posted by lindaleyner
My mind said: It´s real pain, because it´s where the table do pressure on the hand...

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Originally posted by lindaleyner
Everyone I talk to just says that I am crazy.

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