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Stamper
Canada
2 Posts |
 Posted - 06/02/2011 : 06:15:55
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Hi there
after 10 years of increasingly painful back (both in intensity of pain as well as increasing number of problem places on my back) and 13 chiropractors, physical therapists, etc, I finally came across the idea of TMS. Hallelujah! I am quite certain this applied to me.
So, I have gotten the book and am about 3/4 of the way through it. But what advice can you give me? Can you give me answers to the following questions:
* When my back and neck hurt, it has been my habit to 'crack' the problem area, especially my neck. Do I need to start resisting this urge?
* When the pain/tension/tightness flair up, am I to do absolutely nothing to relieve it except talk to myself and turn my attention toward my mind/emotions?
* I am often not at all sure of what the repressed emotions might be when I feel the pain/tension. I don't want to make up answers to the question of what the repressed emotion is - so is my best bet to wait patiently - asking the question but waiting for my mind to eventually produce the answer?
Thanks for your help! |
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Dave
USA
1864 Posts |
Posted - 06/02/2011 : 10:40:18
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quote:
Originally posted by Stamper
* When my back and neck hurt, it has been my habit to 'crack' the problem area, especially my neck. Do I need to start resisting this urge?
I admit, I still crack my lower back in the morning by pressing my knees together. I also have a terrible habit of cracking my knuckles since childhood. I cringe when I see people violently cracking their neck. The key is that you should not consider the crack to be a cure or treatment akin to a chiropractic adjustment. You must accept that the pain is not due to a structural issue.
quote:
* When the pain/tension/tightness flair up, am I to do absolutely nothing to relieve it except talk to myself and turn my attention toward my mind/emotions?
You do not attempt any physical treatment such as stretching, heating pads, etc. because this reinforces the belief that there is a structural problem. But if you are in a lot of pain there is no harm to take a pain killer such as tylenol or advil so long as you accept this is only treating the symptom. When you are aware of the pain, focus on your emotional state. This is a reconditioning exercise that you must do repeatedly every time you are aware of the pain. Essentially you are ignoring the pain and turning your attention to negative emotions that may be repressed.
quote:
* I am often not at all sure of what the repressed emotions might be when I feel the pain/tension.
By definition the repressed emotions cannot be felt or known. If you knew what they were, they would not be repressed!
It is a typical misunderstanding of TMS treatment, that you must become aware of the specific emotions that are causing the symptoms. This is impossible. The emotions that cause TMS symptoms are at an unconscious level. The repressed "resivoir of rage" that Dr. Sarno refers to is not anything like the rage you might feel consciously, such as when you are stuck in traffic or mad at your boss. The repressed emotions are what the "child inside you" is feeling.
Luckily, you do not need to get in touch with these repressed feelings. You just need to acknowledge that they exist, that they are causing the symptoms. You need to try to figure out what they might be. There is no way to know for sure if you are right, but you simply explore all the possible emotions that you might be repressing. Dig deep and be completely honest with yourself. Think about things in your life that you may have glossed over, but are really affecting you on a deeper level than you realize.
It is the act of trying to feel these repressed emotions that is important. This is the reconditioning process. When aware of the symptoms, you will think about those negative, embarassing, taboo, guilt-inducing emotions, instead of focusing on the pain. Over time, the pain will fade because it is no longer serving the purpose of distracting you from these feelings that your unconscious mind deems too dangerous for you to feel.
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Stamper
Canada
2 Posts |
Posted - 06/02/2011 : 16:59:48
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| holy cow, Dave, a terrifically help set of responses. thank you so much! that really helps me a lot. |
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Capn Spanky
112 Posts |
Posted - 06/04/2011 : 18:30:09
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quote:
Originally posted by Stamper
Hi there
after 10 years of increasingly painful back (both in intensity of pain as well as increasing number of problem places on my back) and 13 chiropractors, physical therapists, etc, I finally came across the idea of TMS. Hallelujah! I am quite certain this applied to me.
So, I have gotten the book and am about 3/4 of the way through it. But what advice can you give me? Can you give me answers to the following questions:
* When my back and neck hurt, it has been my habit to 'crack' the problem area, especially my neck. Do I need to start resisting this urge?
I agree with Dave. I wouldn't worry a lot about the cracking. If you can resist doing it, that might be good. But if not, it's no big deal. The main thing is to resist the feeling that there is something structurally wrong (just as Dave said).
quote:
* When the pain/tension/tightness flair up, am I to do absolutely nothing to relieve it except talk to myself and turn my attention toward my mind/emotions?
Yes, this is the idea and this is how the program has worked successfully for me. Again, if you are in severe pain it is ok to take pain medicine. Hopefully that will just be a temporary fix, if necessary at all.
quote:
* I am often not at all sure of what the repressed emotions might be when I feel the pain/tension. I don't want to make up answers to the question of what the repressed emotion is - so is my best bet to wait patiently - asking the question but waiting for my mind to eventually produce the answer?
Don't worry if you don't know what emotion may be causing the pain. If you're anything like me, sometimes you'll have a good idea of what's bothering you and other times you won't. For me, it's a matter of redirecting attention from the pain to what's going on inside my head and my heart.
You really sound like you're really heading in the right direction. Best of luck with the program! It has literally saved my life.
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Brand New to TMS and its Treatment
