ANYBODY else successfully diagnose groin pain as TMS?

I am posting this because I dont seem to see anybody else on this site talking about pain and tightness in the groin/hip socket area. I also dont see anything about this mentioned in any of dr. sarnos books. I have a lack of range of motion in my right leg, and a constant slight dull pain/tightness in my groin area/where the leg meets the hip in the groin area. I also have the same feelings in my spine but it is much easier for me to accept that as TMS, especially given that so many people experience their tms symptoms in the back. The weird part for me is that a few months ago (before finding sarno) I was limping around on this leg, and now im able to run and jump and do jukes and cuts on it. As this may seem like obvious evidence of tms, im concerned because I still have a lack of range of motion in the leg, and every time i lift my leg above my waist and put it back down, i feel a pop in the hip socket area. This pop doesnt hurt, but im slightly concerned with the presence of it coupled with the pain i get with rotating my leg outward away from my body and lifting it up towards my body (such as sitting down and lifting your leg inward toward yourself to put a sock on). I know ive made a lot of progress and should be grateful to be able to run with only some slight tightness/soreness afterwards, but Dr. Schubiner suggested seeing my doctor and getting an xray, which I absolutely dont want to do because I dont want to fall back into that trap. But I also dont want to put it off if there is indeed some impingement in the area (I would assume the femoral head). Curious if anybody has any thoughts on this or has healed themselves of this type of pain using TMS methods.

Thanks

 

Hi Interstellar,

If you put "groin pain" or "pelvic pain" in the search box at the top right corner, you will find some threads by other members who have had that type of pain. And Dr. James Alexander who wrote the Hidden Psychology of Pain successfully recovered from that type of pain and discusses it extensively in his book.

But don't get too hung up on the specifics of your pain. TMS can take just about any form. Rule out other causes, then treat as TMS.

 

Thanks for the response ellen! My one question about ruling out other causes is I feel like a doctor will always find a cause other than tms. For instance trying to tell a patient that their back pain comes from their injured discs. If I go have my groin/hip examined, I assume they will find something along the lines of impingement or arthritis. Which I won't know whether I should treat it as something truly structurally wrong or just a normal abnormality which tms is using to cause the pain. Of course my doctor wont understand tms, and will try to attribute it to structural damage. And im obviously not qualified to tell the difference. Ugh, I hate being so analytical.

 

There are also doctors out there that have a more open mind than you describe...
You might try to discuss the diagnosis with dr. Schubiner (?), who I presume is qualified to interpret it correctly.

good luck!

 

Yeah Dr schubiner is known as an expert in tms. I completely described my pain to him in an email and he said I should get it checked out by my doctor. Which was the last thing I wanted to hear. I also contacted Dr sopher and got the same type of answer. It's a little disappointing. Ive realized I'm going to have to go on my own faith in a tms diagnoses based on the porgress I've made so far.

 

I personally would see the doctor if two TMS experts advised me to do so... I feel it is about how you perceive any diagnosis, as a threat or not. Maybe part of your symptoms is TMS and part of it has a structural cause, it isn't always black or white. TMS treatment can also help you remove any unnecessary symptoms in a structural defect, so in any case it is good to keep treating it as such. And you forget the very real possibility that the x-ray shows nothing serious.
Then again, if the symptoms you describe aren't bothering you too much and treating them as TMS works for you, you can always see a doctor later when necessary. It really is up to you... is there a risk to that? Maybe, but every decision you make incorporates a certain risk, it is an inevitable part of life.
take care

 

If you read Dr James Alexander's book 'The Hidden Psychology of Pain', you can read about how he overcame chronic groin pain which was actually TMS.

 

Hi all

This is the type of pain I have been healing from. I have also been having problems with piriformis syndrome. I fully know how painful and unpleasant it is and frustrating. I can also tell you that since I began the healing process that is has subsided a lot and some days it is non existent. I have even had days when all of a sudden it swaps to the other hip which makes me smile now as if it was real it would stay where it is. I am still in the early phases of healing and I have good days and bad days but I can see changes and I know I am on the right path. I am gradually gaining acceptance this is a mind body issue and its growing but it is taking its time but I see this as reasonable as it probably took years for this pain to emerge so it isn't going to stop all of a sudden. I have accepted I am not a fast healer and am okay with that. I know I have to be kind to myself.

 

Thanks for the response heleng! It's good to hear that you've made progress. I do have one question. Do you have any popping/semi-grinding feeling in the joint area above the groin? The pain and tightness in my groin doesn't bother me as much as the grinding/popping feeling I get when I move my leg a certain way. That symptom is constant for me. The pain around is better some days than others. But I have made a lot of progress and I'm now able to run with only some slight discomfort afterwards. I find it odd that the action of running doesnt hurt at all, but if i twist my leg outward i feel pain in the joint. I feel like if there were something truly wrong, my pain would constantly be getting worse, especially after running on it.

 

I did have some popping, but that has gone now and it doesn't happen anymore. That used to scare me so am glad its gone. I do have tightness still but much less. My main thing now is the pain moving about to different areas like my thighs and lower back, but I see it as progress as the pain is spreading and moving but also diminishing. Even when the pain was bad I could do yoga and was very flexible which for me was a sign it was not structural but emotional. If you are running you are doing really well and if there was a serious structural problem I would have thought running would be impossible.

 

Thanks so much! I needed to hear someone else say that about the popping. Did your popping hurt at all and did you have restricted movement in your leg as far as twisting it one way or the other? And yes I'd agree that if your pain is moving around a lot that you can certainly be confident that its tms. Keep up the good work!

 

The popping felt odd, not painful as such and yes turning my leg hurt and felt very tight, that is all gone now. To be honest I have got so good at ignoring the pain I hadn't even noticed that until you asked me. I think forgetting about it or rather not paying it any attention is key to improvement.

 

That's awesome, I appreciate the input. Yeah my popping doesn't really hurt either, and it's just more like a deep pop in the joint rather than the normal snaps that everybody has like in their knees and elbows. The painful part is when I turn my leg, so it seems like I'm describing exactly what youve already healed from! Now I know I can too! I'll be doing my best to not think about it. Any other tips that have worked well for you?

 

Also I'm impressed that you were able to completely not think about it, given that the symptoms are present with every step you take.

 

It hasn't been easy and acceptance and belief are key. After that I realised in order to heal I had to stop the fear and the way to do that was to feel the pain but do stuff anyway and it works. It's simple and hard but I do feel I am getting better but I choose to stop monitoring my progress as any attention I give the pain makes it stronger and allows fear back in. It's a balancing act and one I am learning day by day. I am getting better at it but have a way to go. I accept that I will heal gradually and that is fine. Don't monitor yourself and ignore the pain as much as you can. Practice makes perfect.

 

Those are all things I have recently learned and I'm working on them every day. Thanks so much for your advice and good luck!

 

Hi Interstellar, I have the same type pain that you describe and I am sure it is TMS. I also have somewhat restricted motion in the right hip socket. It often happens that we (us TMS'ers) get our pain in an area that is difficult, if not impossible, for a doctor to diagnose a physical problem for sure. And yet, because so many doctors fear being sued, they often like to hint or indicate there may be a physical problem, even if they are pretty sure there is not. This is why I do not like to go see a doctor for back pain. I will not have surgery under any circumstances, so what is a doctor going to do. Not much is really known about the spine and back in general. My husband is a doctor and he does not like me to run to doctors for this because, every time, it just gets me right back on the same old treadmill of wondering about the pain, is it physical or mental. It just sets me back every time. I figure that, since I have had some type of back pain most of my life (until finding out about TMS), if it was going to kill or cripple me, it would have long ago. I have learned the hard way not to obsess about the pain and not to require certainty about a mental OR physical diagnosis. And yes I have had popping also. Your mind will always treat you to new wrinkles when you are not paying the pain proper attention. Oh and I am fairly sure that "piriformis syndrome" is another name for TMS. This is another diagnosis made by medical professionals when they don't know the cause of the pain. I put it in the same category with fibromyalgia.

 

Oh and Interstellar, the book that helped me the most to put aside my fears and concentrate on TMS is called "Back in Control" by Dr. David Hanscom. He is a Orthopedic surgeon who had TMS himself. In the book, he lists the conditions that can be fixed by surgery and those that cannot. This book, more than other, helped me realize that my back pain, was in fact TMS. You might consider reading this book.

 

Awesome, thank you for the suggestion and I will check that book out. It's so great to hear you and Heleng describe the same symptoms I'm having because I haven't heard a lot about that in tms literature. Have you had any success in healing from your groin pain/popping? I was limping on my right leg before I found out about tms a couple months ago but I am now able to run and juke on it. The deep pop hasn't gone away and I still get pain when turning my leg, but the pain is much less debilitating. I also get spine pain as well, but it never gets worse and it only hurts when my spine is stretched, such as bending over or sideways. (Of course this started while having a chiropractor stretch my spine to heal my discs) what a great trigger point for tms. But I'm also working on this and I've made a lot of progress with my back as well. One symptom that I had and have basically completely got rid of is pelvic pain in my back right side. That faded away with two weeks of discovering tms.

 

OMG interstellar, I have the same thing, although it is pretty much gone now. I would start to run and if I stepped out a bit in my stride my leg would lock up and not move right until I bent it a certain way then it'd pop as if my hip socked was out or something, then i could run no problem. I found that after I started to stretch my hip flexors (same position as if one is doing a lunge and is in the forward position, the side being stretched is the one with the leg back) it went away pretty quickly. I think my flexors were tight causing the joint to be pulled out of line. One of the few things I had health-wise in the past several years that I wasn't worried sick over! And of course I'm sure TMS could cause tightening of muscles resulting in this as well.