Derek S. TMS in two locations at once?

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Question

I was diagnosed 3 years ago with 'mild' carpal tunnel syndrome.

I have learned from studying that TMS pain symptoms may move from one location to another during the treatment phase. Is it possible for TMS pain to be in 2 locations at once? When I play guitar I will get tingling and numbness in both hands at the same time.

I have noticed an overall improvement in day to day activities, but I am still bothered by the tingling/numbness when I try to play guitar for more than 10 or 15 minutes.

I have only been on the treatment program for about 2 weeks, and this issue still keeps popping up I'm my head that it might really be carpal tunnel since it occurs in 2 places at once.


Thank You

 

Answer

Hey ByronT,

So if you are approaching these "carpal tunnel" symptoms from a TMS perspective then we can assume that there is no structural abnormality and that your hands/wrists are ok. If you have any doubt about this, see a TMS doc to gain certainty.

In the TMS community, it is generally accepted that most or all carpal tunnel is TMS. The fact that your pain is starting to show up in new places now that you are working on this from a mind/body perspective is exactly what we would expect. When the pain/fear/preoccupation mechanism is challenged or threatened it has the tendency to throw something else at you to keep you in a state of fear, doubt, and disempowerment.

Flip the script and use it as evidence that this mechanism just tipped its hand. It slipped up. You are on to it.

Keep practicing responding to the symptoms in a different way. Work on outcome independence!!! Replace fear and catastrophic thinking with breath, reassurances of safety, and anxiety regulation. You will disrupt the cycle and the symptoms will no longer be reinforced, eventually rendering them irrelevant.

Keep it up and best of luck!

-Derek

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Hi, Bryan. Yes, I found that TMS can cause pain in more than one part of the body, and others have, too.

In journaling I discovered there were several major reasons for my repressed emotions that went back to my boyhood.
My parents divorced when I was seven and my older brother was often very mean to me. In journaling I discovered that
my parents had their own TMS pains so I was able to forgive them. I also realized that my brother resented having to look
after me and our sister when he was just a few years older than we were, and he wanted to be out playing with his pals.
That helped me to forgive him and the back and other pain I felt went away.

Keep thinking your pain is TMS, not structural, and it will go away.

 

Ive had symtoms in my mid, lower upper back, and my knee, all at once! So its definitely possible!

 

Perhaps investigate more ways of dealing with the TMS symptoms. Have you read Louise Hay 'You Can Heal Your Life'? She gives affirmations that correlate to different parts of the body which you then say to yourself often - to get to the crux of the problem. She lists hands as being about dealing with experiences, how we clutch onto things, grasp or let go. The affirmation for hands is 'I choose to handle all my experiences with love and joy and ease'.
Numbness is to do with withholding love and consideration - the affirmation ' I share my feelings and my love. I respond to love in everyone'
Without wanting to sound too wishy-washy hippyish (!) I have found her to be right most of the time and even my husband consults her book when a symptom arises. Much TMS stuff arises from how we felt and/or were treated as children - so it is the 'child inside' us that we are often dealing with. We all need to feel loved and appreciated. Often the person we think about loving least, or last - is ourselves!
On the subject of carpal tunnel - I have two relatives who were diagnosed, suffered for years and eventually had operations on both hands/wrists. Both still suffer as much as they ever did!
Good luck