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Mobius
USA
32 Posts |
 Posted - 06/30/2004 : 16:30:39
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My TMS pain is primarily located in my lower back and left butt/hip area but I sometimes also have pain in the left side of my neck and shoulder area. I believe in the Sarno concept 100% and apply it daily to the painful area and shall continue to do so until I am convinced that the TMS portion of the pain is relieved. My concern is that only a portion of the pain is a result of TMS. I have discovered that I have an unconscious tendancy to tense up my abdominal muscles and shoulder muscles. I have been practicing self-awareness in order to catch myself tensing these muscles. When I notice that they are tense, I release the tension immediately. I feel that this muscle tension may be contributing to the pain in the areas that I described. I guess that unless the pain completely subsides thru the TMS work, I will never know what portion of the pain is from the TMS and what portion is from my own bad habits.
Since muscle tension is primary in TMS and my abdominal muscles are tense the majority of the time then I should do my best to resolve that tenseness. I would appreciate any help that might enable me to pursue that goal since right now it is hard for me to remain self-aware for any extended period of time. Thanks. Mobius |
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Fox
USA
496 Posts |
Posted - 07/01/2004 : 10:51:57
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| Personally, I think that you're not going to have optimal results from your anti-TMS efforts if you worry about where you may or may not have muscle tension. I think that you would do best forgetting the physical and focusing on your TMS reading and re-reading, on the psychological when you have pain, and push yourself to engage in more and more activities regardless of the pain and conditioning. |
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n/a
374 Posts |
Posted - 07/01/2004 : 13:06:50
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The muscle tension thing was a great problem for me also, Mobius and I have to say that it has taken quite a time to get the better of it. Like you I had (still have occasionally) it in the lower back and to a lesser extent in the left shoulder/neck area. I wasn't really aware of how tensely I help my body until a physiotherapist pointed it out to me. This was prior to my finding out about TMS.
She certainly helped with the shoulder pain. I found it reasonably easy to release the tension there, but the lower back was far harder. I just couldn't see how I had any control over the muscles there. What did help me though - and it didn't happen overnight - was something that Austingary said about relaxing the abdominals when walking. I don't know about you, but I was taught from a young age to 'keep the stomach in' while walking' - supposed to be good for posture, apparently.
Another thing, and here my psyiotherapist's advice was counter-productive, she told me that my back would improve if I strenghened my abdominals and gave me exercises to that end - push ups, and she reinforced the idea that I should walk with my abs held in. I gave up all exercises that were specific to my back when I found out about TMS and this was definitely the correct thing to do, but learning how to relax the body generally was helpful.
Gradually, when I started doing the complete opposite of pulling in my abs, just letting my stomach go when walking, the muscles in the painful area of the lower back began to relax more as well - thus becoming less painful.
As I said, I still get pain sometimes (after a year). Yesterday, I went for a long walk - the weather was good when I left, but a thunderstorm started two miles from home - no waterproofs or umbrella - soaked to the skin, literally, freezing cold, couldn't even see because my mascara had run in my eyes and was stinging. When I got home I was very tense physically, and my back began to ache - only for an hour or two, it soon eased. In the past this would have been the prelude of days or weeks of severe pain.
I worked on the emotional factors relating to my pain - TMS was the root of what was going on, but for me, it doesn't do any harm to 'remind' my muscles to behave themselves when they tense up.
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austingary
USA
95 Posts |
Posted - 07/01/2004 : 21:37:02
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Since muscle tension is primary in TMS and my abdominal muscles are tense the majority of the time then I should do my best to resolve that tenseness. I would appreciate any help that might enable me to pursue that goal since right now it is hard for me to remain self-aware for any extended period of time.
My experience has been that you don't have to concentrate on a body area all the time to change your unconscous habit from holding it tight to letting it go. You just practice doing that at regular intervals, as you would practice any other new skill, and slowly but surely, those muscles relax.
If the habit is very old, it may take a long time to make the change. And it may never change completely. But every minute spent with a muscle relaxed instead of held in a tight bind is beneficial.
Sometimes doing certain exercises on a daily basis such as yoga or the ones in the Egoscue book that I have talked about here will help. |
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Dave
USA
1864 Posts |
Posted - 07/02/2004 : 08:33:39
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quote:
Originally posted by Mobius
My concern is that only a portion of the pain is a result of TMS.
In my opinion this hinders your recovery from TMS. How do you know what pain is TMS and what isn't? So as long as you focus on your physical muscles and believe that part of that specific pain is not due to TMS, the door is left open for your brain to continue to induce psychogenic pain in those specific areas.
quote:
I have discovered that I have an unconscious tendancy to tense up my abdominal muscles and shoulder muscles.
I believe the tension and TMS go hand in hand. In my opinion the "unconscious muscle tension" is TMS.
When I notice I am holding my muscles tense, I take a deep breath, relax, and think psychologically. I treat the fact that I was holding my muscles tense as a signal to become aware of my emotions.
Holding your muscles tense is a habit just like anything else. It can be corrected through reconditioning. But if you start thinking, for example, "my lower back pain is TMS but my shoulder pain is due to muscle tension" then in my opinion you are hurting your chances for recovery from TMS. |
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Irish Jimmy
USA
52 Posts |
Posted - 07/03/2004 : 19:45:10
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| Mobius, I would consider ALL muscle tension TMS in your affected body parts. My traps and shoulders were the original reason I researched TMS theory. When I got up in the morning, the pain would be much less than when I went to bed, but my shoulders were hunched up around my ears like I was doing a shrug! It felt and looked uncomfortable, even though the pain was less intense. As the pain subsided the tension left also. Good Luck with your progress. |
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Mobius
USA
32 Posts |
Posted - 07/08/2004 : 12:27:27
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Thank you all for your very wonderful comments and recommendations!!!
Mobius |
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Muscle Tension
