Letting go of the physical

Hi,

I read Sarno's books + the great pain deception, reading a lot on the forum and listen to Nicole Sachs's podcasts.

Still I sometimes think there i something physically wrong with me. My upper back, shoulders, neck are always feeling thight. It gives me chronic tension headaches, TMJ and also pain in my chest. I'm also diagnosed with vulvodynia..

I may have a bad posture and have muscle imbalances.
(The yoga therapist + the chiropractor say that the muscles in my upper back are to weak en the muscles in my chest are to thight + i have muscle imbalances in my pelvis, so my pelvis is tilted and i have a leg length difference).

Can the symptoms still be TMS if you have these diagnosis?
Does anybody have had the same diagnosis here and still recovered using the TMS approach? And how do you really get convinced?

Thanks a lot!

 

Yes!
I have the same tension in my shoulders and neck and sometimes I make a visit to a chiropractor who releases the spasm. But the spasm is there because of rage, grief, fear. I know all my emotions and yet if there are enough stressors, the TMS rears its head and I get all tensed up.
It really helps to do Alan's 28 day program!
I revisit it regularly to calm my mind. I meditate every morning. Do yoga and strengthening. Still, life often feels as if I am having rocks thrown at my head from several directions at once without a safe place to land. FEELS is the operative word there.
Feelings create and inflame us and we feel pain instead of the full extent of rage, grief, fear.
This is a very safe place. Visit the chat online today and ask questions. Jan is a wonderful moderator!
I will try to be there, too, since it's raining and not much to do.

 

Hi,

I was told my a chiropractor and osteopath that my vulvodynia was due to having a twisted pelvis/sacroiliac joint dysfunction. I was told by doctors that it was due to nerve damage after being on a long course of antibiotics. I was told by a top pain specialist it was due to chronic inflammation spreading through my body.

It was in fact TMS and after 10 years of terrible suffering I found Dr Sarno's work and healed.

Please feel free to any me any questions you may have on this thread or send a message direct to my inbox.

There is hope for healing!!

Best wishes,
Kathryn

 

Same thing with me...diagnosis of twisted pelvis, slight scoliosis of back, tight psoas, weak glutes, lax sacral ligaments, herniated disc, bad posture, etc. etc. I actually think the Doctor(s), Physical Therapist(s), Acupuncturists, Chiropractors had NO IDEA what was causing the pain, maybe some of the above, all of the above? They were guessing. I do realize that the feeling of your back or sacrum being twisted is a horrible and strong belief. I used to wake up every morning kind of picturing the disfigurement and the pain would come on. This is what made me a believer in Dr. Sarno/TMS. My PT said I had a totally lax ligament and my sacrum was twisting as a result-so I needed to see them twice a week, the very next day my Chiropractor said the exact opposite..that my SI Joint was tight as a drum and it was my misalignment causing the pain-so I needed to see her twice a week. I honestly think they mean well but they always find a diagnosis that fits their specialty it seems.

Long story short....the minute I read MindBody Prescription, the pain went away for 3 days. It came back for two, but I read Healing Back Pain, and the pain went away again. Pain went from an 9 to a 2. I listed to Sarno's lectures (DVD), pain fascilllating between 0 and 1. I hadn't felt so good for 2 years. If my back and sacrum are so twisted, the pain should always be there, right.

From a scientific standpoint, I firmly believe the tightness caused by the oxygen deprivation make muscles spasm and that is what pulls the body out of alignment. Thus, by restoring oxygen to the muscles, and MOVING, the muscles will relax. It is working for me.

Life is great again.

 

Where did you get Sarno's lectures @Gojab ?
I would be interested in viewing. Thanks

 

I ordered the DVD from Sarno's website. https://www.healingbackpain.com/ (Healing Back Pain, Back Pain Relief, Tension Myositis Syndrome, Dr. Sarno)

Its nothing really new from his books, but its helpful to hear him say it. Also, its circa 1990s NY so you get to see good 'ol NY fashion in the 90s. Takes me back!!!

 

YouTube also has so many videos. Audios of Sarno's books and even some of his lectures are available there.

 

I found listening to Sarno extremely calming and effective, more than reading his book .

 

I have sent you a private message!

 

I have sent you a private message!

 

I love this. I think that last bit of yours is SUCH a valuable reminder for anyone of us going thru this- if it's a real, structural issue/infection/whatever, it would ALWAYS be there. Infections don't take days off. Structural issues don't take days off. This post of yours actually really helps. My problem has been believing something is wrong with my genitals due to weird sensations of discomfort, irritation, etc. but it went away all through April and sometimes doesn't even show up. If it were an infection or structural thing, it would be here a lot more that's for sure!

 

"Is it structural or TMS?" Here is what Alan Gordon suggests asking yourself from his new book The Way Out. Basically the more of these that you can answer Yes to, the more likely it is TMS:

1) Did pain originate during time of stress?
2) Did the pain originate without injury?
3) Are the symptoms inconsistent? (e.g. sometimes it hurts a lot while walking but other times not at all)
4) Are there a large number of symptoms? (e.g. you develop pain, skin rashes, tinnitus, etc. all kind of at the same time)
5) Do the symptoms spread or move? (e.g. sometimes on one side of back, sometimes the other, sometimes the hip, etc.)
6) Are the symptoms triggered by stress?
7) Are there triggers that have nothing to do with the body? (e.g. time of day, weather, certain sounds, etc)
8) Are the symptoms symmetrical? (very unusual to develop symptoms on both sides of the body at same time)
9) Is there delayed pain? (e.g. you go for a walk and it doesn't hurt, but only about an hour later does it start to hurt)
10) Did you have childhood trauma?
11) Do you have some of Sarno's personality types: perfectionism, conscientiousness, people-pleaser, anxiousness
12) Is there a lack of a clear doctor's diagnosis, or multiple doctors tell you different things?

Also I would add that almost all injuries heal within 2-3 months. They do not typically hurt months or years later.

@yogigirl I also have what feels like incredible muscle tension (in quads and pelvis) that I believe is the source of my pain, and I am sure it is psychological in nature. "Muscle imbalances" and "leg length differences" and "bad posture" are also extremely common: if everybody who had those had chronic pain then 90% of the world should be in pain.

hope it helps