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sdiddy
46 Posts |
 Posted - 07/16/2012 : 23:27:31
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| I haven't had an episode of tms in years, and was totally cured of many years of tms back pain. Now i am wondering if this new pain in my shoulder is just that. I dont recall a single injury on the shoulder though I was playing basketball about 3 days a week and i play very aggressively, jumping, blocking, etc, and a couple times recall a sharp pain in the shoulder. Had MRI and it ffound tendinitis and small tears. Pain seems to be moving and getting worse even though I stopped all sports and just rest it and ice and heat it everyday. Also went to physical therapy a few times which seemed to help nominally. I am scared to use it for fear of a severe tear, which people say is bad. But how do I know what it is? I do have stress in my life right now. Lost money on Facebook IPO, not doing great at work, and very stressed about pressure to have kids now that I am getting older. Please help thank you. |
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art
1903 Posts |
Posted - 07/17/2012 : 07:06:47
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I don't know how you can ignore an MRI that shows inflammation and tears. You certainly could have sustained an injury given your activity level.No doubt some will disagree.
It's funny because I have a similar result on an MRI..quadricep tendonitis and a tear. It hurts like hell with plenty of swelling. I plan on 3 months off from running at a minimum.
Look, we get hurt. We're only human. If I were you I'd accept the diagnosis and treat it as per the recommendation of your physician.
I'd also look to find ways to lessen your stress levels. I doubt your current situation is TMS, but you're unhappiness is real and has to be addressed. It looks to me like your fear levels are sky high.
Edit: Just to add, you're 28 years young. You'll heal quickly. The time will pass and you'll be as good as new before you know it. |
Edited by - art on 07/17/2012 07:11:15 |
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sdiddy
46 Posts |
Posted - 07/17/2012 : 12:16:47
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| thanks for the response. well just as a correction I am now 33 years old and almost 34. and definitely not healing as fast as I used to! but regarding the injury, there is no doubt that i DID in fact slightly injur myself (not severely), but I also belive that TMS has set in like some alien pathogen in my shoulder and is making it much much worse and causing the pain to spread. unfortunately, I am scared to FULLY accept TMS as the ONLY issue because I am scared to say "screw it, just use it and play sports again" and then risk a worse injury. Sports are really important to me and since I have stopped playing in the last cople months, it has made the situation worse because i long to be out plain basketball, golf, whatever, without fear of hurting. Taking sports away from me is like taking away my lifeblood, so I will admit its been really hard...particaulrly basketball. I have still been running a bit but its not fun for me. I dont know. Any hel por similar stories would greatly help me. I read a lot of your posts last night on shoulders and TMS on this forum, and already started to feel better, like I could beat this, and definitely think the pain is lessened today, or at least I am not as bothered by it by having a positive outlook. I remember when my back was messed up years ago and Sarno's book saved my life. I went through the same thing then for years and got back to 100% active again for the last 6 or so years. Thanks all. |
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art
1903 Posts |
Posted - 07/17/2012 : 14:36:22
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Whatever you do, you have to do it fearlessly. If it is TMS, it's not going to resolve unless you stop worrying about it...Which is a problem in my opinion given your MRI.
34 is still young as hell. I'd take it in a heart beat.
Another option would be to check in with a TMS physician. If he gives you the green light,
that should reduce fear substantially.
I well understand how important sports are to you. Me too. I ignore most things, and usually it works out. I ignored the current knee situation, and not only did I end up with a significant tear, I got a blood clot as a kind of bonus prize. Given the amount of swelling and pain, I let my desire to keep running cloud my judgment.
A third option would be to get a second opinion from another orthopod. Of course Sarno discusses how MRI's often show degenerative changes that are often wrongly taken for the cause of pain. Not sure what he says about tears. I can only tell you what I'd do. Others might well feel differently. There are some hard core types who are much more apt to assume TMS than I am. Maybe we'll hear from some of them
The fact that tears were characterized as small is good. Maybe just a few weeks of RICE would be all you need. |
Edited by - art on 07/17/2012 21:34:41 |
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sdiddy
46 Posts |
Posted - 07/17/2012 : 16:00:44
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| Im off carbs right now so that probably wont work for me. |
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balto
839 Posts |
Posted - 07/17/2012 : 17:26:31
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quote:
Originally posted by art
Maybe just a few weeks of RICE would be all you need.
Is that white RICE or fried RICE Art? :)
Sdiddy, I think Art mean to say: Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation.
My thinking is it is doesn't matter if your symptoms has a real physical cause or it is tms, ellimination of fear, worry, and anger thoughts would do wonder for your situation. Many studies have shown patients after surgery usually heal much faster and get to leave hospital much earlier if they have a positive attitude and outlook.
Do the RICE like Art suggested and focus on doing something positive while waiting for your body to heal. Watch some comedy movies, visit some friends, read a good book while lying in your hammock with an ice cool ice tea....
It is confusing getting all these conflicting information from the medical experts. We used to hear people say: "no pain no gain", exercises cause the muscle to tear and rebuild and get bigger, stronger. And now they say these little, small tear is causing us all these pain?
I live at the end of a dead end road in a not very nice community. To get to the main road I have to drive about a mile and have to pass around 5 different groups of kids playing street basketball everyday. They play rough and aggressive and they never get out of the way when cars want to go thru. I used to wish for they all have tendinitis or tms, but my wish never come true. Day after day, they are always out there. :)
Whatever you have, if it is physical, time and rest will heal it for sure, and if it is tms, a positive mind and a fearless heart will cure you. Goodluck Sdiddy.
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No, I don't know everything. I'm just here to share my experience. |
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art
1903 Posts |
Posted - 07/17/2012 : 21:30:49
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Yes, Balto on the RICE. Also agree with your advice, something I harp on all the time.
We focus too much on the question "is it real?" Of course I understand why that's important. But at some point in a person's journey toward true mental health, the proper response to pain is, "whether this is real or TMS, I will be fearless and accepting". Of course if something is TMS, it will soon disappear with that attitude. If not, we're still much better served. The injury will likely heal more quickly and the process will be much less harrowing.
We TMS'ers are so easily thrown off balance. Everything's a catastrophe. I do it myself. "Oh my God. I'm hurt. I can't run for two weeks. I'm going to have to kill myself".
It would be funny if it weren't so damaging.
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Edited by - art on 07/17/2012 21:31:44 |
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drh7900
USA
194 Posts |
Posted - 07/18/2012 : 13:11:56
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Tears on the rotator cuff can be viewed as "normal abnormalities". I'm not sure what I can say about severe tears. I know that in some of the literature I've read (Sarno and SteveO) it's been at least mentioned that tears in the rotator cuff shouldn't cause lasting pain.
That said, I had a friend who had a "completely torn" rotator cuff. He was in severe pain and had to have surgery to repair it. After surgery and physical therapy, he's back to 100% (according to him). Placebo surgery? Who knows...I don't know enough about the physiology of a rotator cuff to make any claims, but the tears are referenced in some of the literature. Seeing a TMS MD about it would be my recommendation.
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Dustin |
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sdiddy
46 Posts |
Posted - 07/22/2012 : 15:07:41
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| thanks for the info and advice. well, within 2 days of doing research on this forum about TMS and rotator cuffs and feeling like tms was definitely making it worse, i began to have a better attitude about my pain and injury, saying "its mostly TMS and I will be fine and dont worry about it." Also, about 75% of the "spreading pain" has gone away. The injury starting with a sharp specific-movement-triggered pain in the rotator cuff, but as i began to worry about it more and more for a few months, i noticed that pain had begun getting worse and spreading. it began hurting all day rather then just when i did specific movements. it freaked me out of course. but now, all of that spreading pain is gone and its back to only hurting when i do a very specific movement, which is raising my elbow up and then lifting my hand. i am pretty sure there IS an injury there (bursa tear, tendonitis, whatever it is) that needs healing. I think that with this better and positive attitude, I will beat it. But yes I am human and TMS prone and the thought of never playing sports at a high level again is enough to make me want to jump off a building. But i KNOW that I will be better soon and am looking forward to training and getting stronger when I am better to prevent further injuries from happening. |
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sdiddy
46 Posts |
Posted - 07/22/2012 : 15:08:59
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by the way this was just a joke haha.
quote:
Originally posted by sdiddy
Im off carbs right now so that probably wont work for me.
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art
1903 Posts |
Posted - 07/24/2012 : 06:47:29
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"I think that with this better and positive attitude, I will beat it. But yes I am human and TMS prone and the thought of never playing sports at a high level again is enough to make me want to jump off a building"
It's what we do...catastrophize. Very damaging. Very typical. |
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sdiddy
46 Posts |
Posted - 03/17/2013 : 15:08:21
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| hello all so a follow up on my status. i decided to get a cortison shot in november and then decided to jsut let the shoulder rest for a few months. no PT, no basketball, no golf. just running on a treadmill. the pain went away nearly 99%. but last month i started working out again and also shooting basketball and the pain has come back again. i really dont know what it is. i honestly dont feel like this is TMS. the reason i dont think so is it doesnt hurt when im sitting still, laying down, etc. it only hurts in very specific range of motions. in my past experience, TMS was more of a constant, random, throbbing pain. This only hurts when i move my arm in certain ways or lean on my elbow or something. any ideas? |
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Ace1
USA
1040 Posts |
Posted - 03/17/2013 : 15:51:09
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| Tms can present in any pattern |
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eric watson
USA
601 Posts |
Posted - 03/17/2013 : 17:39:42
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yes as art said after the rice, a couple weeks to heal-and yes as ace said too , see my rotater cuff only hurt when i worked out with benching and overhead presses or throwing the football and such- i just got done benching over 400lbs and no problem now- get back to it, but dont think that its going to tear or rip or hurt
and if it does hurt- tell it to stop- my shoulder hurt for over 20 yrs till i found out it was my focus on the pain that kept it there
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Edited by - eric watson on 03/17/2013 17:44:32 |
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Birdie78
Germany
145 Posts |
Posted - 03/18/2013 : 02:38:00
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sdiddy, I am in a similar situation: my ellbow started hurting very much and MRI showed a tear in my tendon and inflammation. This happened during a very stressful periode in my life last year.
Well, a tear just should have healed. But I am still in severe pain my my ellbow is complete stiff since 9 months, I am not able to do something like brushing my teeth oder eating with the right arm as I am not able to bend it over the 90 degree border in the ellbow joint. I although developped severe shoulder pain during the last months, I am barely able to put on a T-shirt, to lift my arm over my head and to do some other movements. When I rest my arm everything is ok, it only hurts when I do certain moves.
The MD diagnosed "impingement syndrome" and biceps tendinitis what I think is not true because the only "mistake" I made was to rest my arm way to long and now everything is shortended and tensed. I have lots of nasty little trigger points round my shoulder which are producing my pain. Treating them only brings a short term relief, they're coming back after several days or even hours. None of this suprises me because trigger points suffer from a lack of oxygen...and when my unconscious restricts the limit of oxygen that flows into my right arm ...how should these trigger points disapear? I really did not injure my shoulder but I remember having had thoughts like "I hope I will never get shoulder pain because a frozen shoulder is one of the worst conditions a person could have". I have "overdone" my ellbow physically a little bit last year in an extreme stressful situation. But even if there was some inflammation it should be fine again now, but it hurts like hell when I try to bend it.
Evertyme I notice some negative thought about my arm pain now I stop it immediately, take a deep breath, tell myself that I will use my arm as normal and with ease and then I visualize myself for a few seconds feeling great and moving my arm painfree. Hope that will help!
Did you read the divided mind? Lot of interesting stuff in there about some common shoulder diagnoses like impingement, tendinitis, rotator cuff tears and so on given my non-TMS-doctors and why in the most cases they're wrong.
Wish you all the best!
Kind regards from Germany sends Birdie |
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sdiddy
46 Posts |
Posted - 04/11/2013 : 21:24:49
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Hello all thanks for the input. Here is the development:
it sounds like some of you have something similar to me. with me, the pain is only there with certain motions, like if i lift my elbow to parallel with the ground and THEN rotate my hand upwards....thats when it hurts the most and feels like its being "impinged". Is this similar to what any of you had? This might give me hope that its TMS and not a true issue. I just assumed that since the pain wasnt constant like when i had TMS in my back, then this MUST be something real like "impingement" or bursitis or whatever. how does one really know for sure?? In the MRI the doc said he sees something that looks like a slight tear but isnt positive because i did an open MRI (claustrophobic) which isnt as detailed. after my cortisone shot in november, i had no pain for 2 months, but also didnt play any sports or do ANYthing for that time. but when i started exercising again, it all came back again. how do i know if its inflammation, tendonitis, a tear, bursitis, or just TMS? How do i test it? I am really afraid to "play through the pain" because i am scared it is a tear that would get worse. but do i need to try this to know for sure?? i keep telling myself in the last week that it is TMS and i also went for acupuncture once. but no relief yet. I know the mantras for TMS and everything, but the biggest thing is I am always "hesitant" to use it in motions that cause significant pain, and always overly cautious, and on top of that, just scared about being healthy as i grow older. I am afraid of not being able to play sports again and its really frightening to me. Any specific advice? Should I be massaging it? icing? heating? Thank you. |
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art
1903 Posts |
Posted - 04/12/2013 : 06:10:42
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SD,
YOur first post on this was 8 months ago. Small tears would have healed. My first reaction was as always, conservative. I'm no doctor and I'm leery of giving advice that can cause real damage.
Pretty clear now that you've got TMS. Two things, as I said, it should have healed by now. Second, your emotional response is classic. Worry, fear, obsession all keep these things alive.
There is a way out. To borrow a line from one of my favorite movies "Cool Hand Luke," you have to get your mind right.
What does that mean? It means you have to stop worrying. 99.9 percent that once you do, the pain will go away. Until that time, you'll likely be stuck.
8 months is plenty of time for small tears to heal. In a way, you've conducted a real life experiment and the results are in
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eric watson
USA
601 Posts |
Posted - 04/12/2013 : 06:10:46
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sdiddy)- how do i know if its inflammation, tendonitis, a tear, bursitis, or just TMS?
Eric)- I had all of the above and till I applied tms healing therapy
I was stuck, after the tms therapy, 20 yrs of pain almost instantly left. you have to accept the diagnosis 100% with your mind first though. if your going to be thinking about mris, youll never recover 100%- you did it with your back - I love your success story, now apply the same to your shoulder, just don't work against pain -let it subside by dealing with anxiety anger and stress that happened around the time this pain came on also its our day to day thoughts of fear.
as you know you don't have to know the exact repression
sdiddy)- How do i test it?
Eric)- if it hurts and its been past the allotted time it takes to heal, which should be no longer than 6-8 weeks then if its still hurtings- its tms
sdiddy)- I am really afraid to "play through the pain" because i am scared it is a tear that would get worse. but do i need to try this to know for sure??
Eric)- don't work through the pain to prove anything ok, you need work on the emotional issues to get the pain to subside and in the divided mind sarno does say after you do the emotional issue work and the pain is gone, then proceed
someone quoted the healing back pain subsideing and said this is the way
and it is there too- I like either suggestion, although some really need to go by the no pain rule before going back out there because we have it in our minds im going to work this pain out physically and really you have to work out the emotional issues
sdiddy)- i keep telling myself in the last week that it is TMS and i also went for acupuncture once. but no relief yet. I know the mantras for TMS and everything, but the biggest thing is I am always "hesitant" to use it in motions that cause significant pain, and always overly cautious, and on top of that, just scared about being healthy as i grow older. I am afraid of not being able to play sports again and its really frightening to me. Any specific advice? Should I be massaging it? icing? heating? Thank you.
Eric)- you just asked two questions
and told all or the repression that are probably making you hurt
reverse everyt thought of doubt and fear you can so you can heal better
aces keys and sarnos reminders will help you here- you have to do the suggestions on purpose as you know till your mind and body are conditioned or forms a habit of thinking in a better way.
no massaging. just journaling, awareness, accptance, calming and so forth- although as I said you mentioned all your stressors in your last paragraph- work on accepting those and reframing them in a better light ok- then you should be well on your way to feelin better in about 3 weeks- if you believe the tms healing therapy 100%
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Edited by - eric watson on 04/12/2013 06:13:30 |
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sdiddy
46 Posts |
Posted - 04/13/2013 : 14:44:15
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Thank you all for your positivity and advice. I am definitely coming to terms with my fears and other stresses (job, health, my parents health, having kids sometime in the near future, etc). I have accepted that I will give it a 100% commitment for one month that this is TMS, to gauge if I get results. I have cancelled my doctor appointment and will continue to think positive, release fear.
Should I also cancel the accupuncture appointments? Should I stop doing the stretches I learned at physical therapy and also stop using a heating pad?
I will update you guys on the progress. The hard part is I am a very impatient person in general...i move fast in all aspects of life and cant even watch TV or take a bath without multitasking multiple things at the same time! So its really hard not having results after a few days of positive thinking. My question to you....how long should I expect it would take to see some positive results, now that I have committed to the notion that it IS TMS. thanks! |
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Ace1
USA
1040 Posts |
Posted - 04/13/2013 : 15:41:19
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| Well sdiddy it is that impatience that is the main cause of your tms with everything else compounded on top of that. I don't think one month will be enough for you to make much progress. The ones that get better fast usually are not the impatient, always in a rush type of person. Good luck to you. |
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Mom2two
13 Posts |
Posted - 04/13/2013 : 17:10:26
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| Try not to put any time limits on it. That will negate any mental work you are doing. Actually are you doing any mental work like journaling, affirmations, relaxation? Also cancel those appointments. If they are not having any positive effect just stop them. It will just keep you focused on the pain and "checking to see" if it is having any effect. |
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Rotator cuff tendonitis and tears
