Trying to escape surgery

Forest · Dec 5, 2013

Another gem from our old site

E-marlene said:

Dear TMSers,
I'm really happy to have found this website. I have been suffering from coccyx pain for the last three years and my orthopedic surgeon has virtually given up on me (or, to be more precise, he refuses to treat me with conservative methods). He wants to remove my coccyx, although the source of pain is unknown. Doctor Sarno's Healing Back Pain has been standing on my bookshelf for quite a long time, I used to recommend it to my friends suffering from different types of pain (one very interesting success story here), but I never considered his method the cure for my ailment.

"Your problem is exactly what Sarno describes. Mine is real", I used to think. Only recently did I look at the book again and I realised I am a perfect TMSer myself! I won't get into details, as it would take too long to list all the elements that could make me the prototype for doctor Sarno's theory. Just grab the book and you will see me I've been trying to incorporate his approach into my life for the last two weeks. I did manage to reduce a great deal of pain. However, there is one thing that really hampers my belief in the possiblity of a full recovery. I am still waiting for the results of my MRI and scintigraphy and I am worried that something will show up. I do feel some hardened tissue in the coccyx area - it feels like a scar in my skin tissue. I have received several cortisone shots, I wonder if they are to blame. Three years ago, at the onset of the pain, no anomalies were detected in any tests. I am worried that if they find some changes now, even if they are not the primary cause of the pain, I will not be able to get the results. Meanwhile, I am trying to deepen my belief in the Sarno method by reading your success stories. Thanks for being there!
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Pandamonium09 said:

Hey E-marlene, and we are glad you found us!

One thing you said rang a bell with me "Three years ago, at the onset of the pain, no anomalies were detected in any tests. I am worried that if they find some changes now, even if they are not the primary cause of the pain, I will not be able to get the results"
So, at the onset of pain there were no anomalies to be found, and yet the pain persisted.

This reminds me of my situation, when my pain started I had nothing structural to show for it but several years later a fissure showed up in the anulus of one of my discs. I was pleased to see the reason for my pain until I realised that the pain preceeded the structural evidence. Anyhow if you want success stories, mine is in my profile.

I think Lori is our resident expert on cocccyx pain and I'm sure she'll have loads of reassuring words for you, she's pain free these days. If she doesn't see this I will give her a nudge.

Good luck and keep us posted,

Panda
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mizlorinj said:

ah the tailbone. Just thinking about how mine used to hurt OUCH. Also makes me appreciate how long I've been pain-free in that area.

I "popped" mine (the ob/gyn said she heard it) while pushing out my son many years ago. I had very bad tailbone pain for quite awhile, worst when in between sitting and standing. I remember sitting on that silly donut thing, and I remember asking the doc at my 6 week checkup and she said "it will never heal." so basically, accept you will have pain there sometimes. AUGH! And I believed her.

Interesting that the pain subsided greatly after I grew comfortable taking care of a newborn. . . but that's another story about emotions affecting us, esp. new mothers!

So I would have pain in my tailbone after sitting for awhile, on long car rides, and especially when doing certain exercises that involved the tailbone. I accepted this.

Fast forward to being bedbound in lower back pain and learning about Dr. Sarno. meeting with him, doing the program, being back to work. (full details in my profile) Still occasional tailbone pain. I saw him at his lecture some time later and got him aside and told him the story about the popping at giving birth and having tailbone pain sometimes, and the ob/gyn's prediction of never healing. His reaction was great and I'll never forget it: "nonsense, it has healed." Wonderful words to hear, and after all I'd just learned, made total sense. So it lessened while sitting over a period of time, but i still was afraid to row while exercising as it meant leaning back on the tailbone. One day I said to myself IT HAS HEALED JUST DO THE @#$%^& EXERCISE. And I did. And the pain has not been back. YAY!!!

So just because something shows on an MRI does not mean it's the cause of your pain. I would read Dr. Sarno's books more so the info sinks in. Takes time!
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E-marlene said:

Panda, Lori,
Thank you so much for your reassuring replies - and congratulations on having combatted your pain! I'm still waiting for the results, but I am far less apprehensive. I worked for nine hours today in a sitting position ...OK, still with the "silly donut thing" but with no pain. Before even the cushion did not bring any relief. At the worst of moments I wasn't even able to lie on my back or wear trousers.

Speaking of TMS and motherhood...my symptoms came back when I decided to return to work after a year's long maternity leave. Doesn't it just sound too obvious?

My doctor attributed the pain to my low weight and some undefined structural anomaly. It's funny how it did not bother me when I reached the lowest weigt in my last 10 years, which happened while I was breastfeeding my baby. The pain only appeared when I seemed to have recovered physically after the pregnancy and childbirth, and decided to come back to work and social life.

I wish I could meet with Dr Sarno, or other TMS therapist, but I live in Belgium so the chances of doing this are rather low. I return to Dr Sarno's book over and over again. I discuss it endlessly with my friend who got rid of awful back pain after reading it. Hope it works for me, too. I'll keep you posted!
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mizlorinj said:

Good, glad you have someone who's already been helped by Dr. Sarno's books already to support you. What he says does really make sense.

And you're in Belgium so you have some really good chocolate there! LOL
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E-marlene said:

Actually the person I've mentioned got the Sarno book from me. She forced me to go back to it, and here I am!
I received the results of my medical tests today. Guess what...there's NOTHING there! It was just before my luch break, I left the doughnut cushion at work and went to a restaurant to celebrate. I didn't put the cushion back on my chair after I returned to my booth (I work as interpreter). It's fine, I don't feel any pain for the time being. I know it's not enough to be a new success story, but it's very promissing.
Now all I need to do is to keep up the positive thinking and enjoy life (including the delicious Belgian chocolate)
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Pandamonium09 said:

Great news, on all fronts.
I have often heard people say they threw away their props and were no worse off, and that encouraged them to continue the TMS apporach.
I wish you well, and I also wish I had some chocolate, it's late afternoon here and I'm starving lol.
Panda
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E-marlene said:

Hi there, spent a day at home, no cushions, and the pain is back. I wonder which approach to the "props" is better - to discard them straight away, or to use them everynow and then to avoid discouragement when the pain returns...but perpetuating the viscious cycle..I'd be grateful if you could tell me how it went in your cases!
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Quert said:

I'm just catching up on this thread, and I have to say, I loved the quote from Dr. Sarno to Lori: "nonsense, it has healed." What wonderful words. ... and true!

For me, I let go of prop use very slowly. It took a lot of courage and I had a lot of conditioning to overcome, so I allowed myself time. My story is a repetitive strain injury story, so a little different, but my pain levels did increase when I returned to activities. I took a stern tone with the pain ("yelling at the pain"), and that didn't always work, but when I stopped thinking about it (i.e. stopped giving it my attention), it eventually went away.

It's a process, but I think that it is different for everyone. Be prepared to give yourself time.

I wouldn't, however, use the props when things pain gets worse (unless specifically instructed by a doctor--then it's a harder decision). What you are struggling against is the way that your body is conditioned to associate the absense of certain props with pain. Just remember: when you were using the props constantly, were you still in pain? So they may have some placebo affect, but they can't really be working... What you want to do is to teach your body that it is completely fine without them.
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Pandamonium09 said:

I did remove all my props right away and didn't use them again I don't think although I certainly deliberated over that a lot.

One of the key things I think is to make life comfortable for yourself when they pain becomes too much. BUT you need to remind yourself that the cushion is not really helping physically, it's just conditioning.

So the voice in my head would go "ok, I've had enough for today, I'm taking some pain killers and I'm going to use my cushion but I know that, really, I just need to do the emotional work because physically there's nothing wrong with me"

Sarno does say, rest, take a pain killer till the worst is past, but don't anguish over the pain, then keep moving again..
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E-marlene said:

Thanks Quert and Panda. I think the gradual approach will work best for me. Actually I cannot contribute as much to the interesting discussions on this forum as I would like to. You know, not being able to sit for extended periods of time...

...just kidding. Actually I've made such a big progress that sat on my computer chair with my child on my lap (no props, and an additional weigh of 10 kilos nailing me down to the seat ). And he managed to scratch off some of the keys of my keybord, which makes typing extremely complicated. I'll be back once I move to my new notebook!
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laird154 said:

I'm new to the site, glad to find it.
Three years ago I came home from my daily gym workout and sat down. It felt like I was sitting on hot broken glass. Since then, I've not had ONE pain free day. Pretty much every non surgical option has been tried; special coccyx x-rays, 2 MRI's, 4 injections, Rolfing, internal manipulation etc. The x-ray showed that the last two segments of the coccyx were dislocated. My "theory" (a belief I'd like to think is true) is that prior to the pain onset, I lost 30 lbs and that my butt had less mass exposing the coccyx and I strained it doing crunches. I have considered surgery, many people on <coccyx.org> have had success, many have not, it's a bit of a crap shoot. I read all of Sarno's books two years ago, very inspiring and helpful but, alas, did not help the pain. Sitting is the main trigger, donuts do nothing, I even had a custom office chair made, does not help. I manage the pain by doing yoga, stretching and QiGong and gym workouts (no crunches!)every day and avoiding long sitting periods (movies, shows, social situations, long travel). It has severely impacted my life in every way. I just turned 70 and if I allow it, it can be really depressing to consider this coccyx pain may be here for the rest of my life. did a week at Kripalu with Dr Schubiner (book; Unlearn Your Pain) same principals as Dr Sarno. I t was a nice week, but no change in pain levels. This can be a VERY stubborn symptom to heal, there are all kinds of nerves involved around the rectal/sacrum area that become inflamed. The <coccyx.org> site has many examples of people who have been healed in various ways and many (most) who have not. At this point I'm open to learning about ANY non surgical way to heal. People suggest things like meditation. Sitting is required to meditate, so not an option. Thanks for being here.
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marjrc said:

laird, I'm sorry to hear about all your pain. It is frustrating and discouraging, for sure. There is one member here at TMS Wiki that had chronic tail bone/coccyx pain for years, but I'm forgetting who that was ... will look it up and let you know. She overcame it using Sarno's methods as well as others.

Also, take a look at the TMS Educational Program. It is very helpful and certainly a try if you're at wits' end. Have you seen or are able to consult with a TMS doctor?
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luvtosew said:

I also have tailbone coccyx pain, got injured a few years ago after a chiro pushed hard three times on it, when I sat on a donut for several months, got better, then got worst. went and had trigger point done in the hip area, hes very good, felt wonderful, it must be a place I hold a lot of frustration or something, but I'm way underwieght so sitting puts pressure on it. It has occured to me its mainly muscular, many muscles attach to it, and they connect to the hips and everywhere.

I would not have surgery on it, a coccyx has many nerves attached to it I think. I am doing squats now and trying to keep my muscles stretched.

I know how awful it can be but got encouraged reading about other people who beat it using tms theory.
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laird154 said:

Thanks for your post and for marjrc also. Yes, I agree, there is a lot of clenched muscle activity in the pelvic area most likely due to automatic "dumping" of emotional debris that we are largely unconscious about as we go about our lives. The Fight or Flight reaction goes on underneath the mask we present that everything is ok. It is, our body just doesn't know it yet!
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Forest said:

"Sitting is required to meditate, so not an option. Thanks for being here."
I have problems meditating because I find it too hard to sit quietly and concentrate. One idea that you could try is to practice more of a mindfulness technique, where you simply focus on the present as you go about your day. In each action you do focus solely on that action.
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E-marlene said:

Hello to the fellow coccyx sufferers! I am sorry about your pain and I hope it is due to TMS and will be gone sooner or later. The problem with TMS is, as was often stated in different threads here, that you have to convince yourself that the pain is not due to some anomaly or strain. That's the most difficult part for me. I think that, ideally, the diagnosis should be made by a TMS therapist, alas, they are extremely difficult to find! I was lucky enough to have no serious anomalies detected in my MRI (apart from the "usual stuff", such as scoliosis and rotation of spine, which I immediately discarded as not related to such strong tailbone pain). The day I received my results was the beginning of my healing. And since I'm at it, it's been some 2 weeks since I got them and I'm doing fine. At least as far as my coccyx is concerned. Unfotunately today I experienced a typical TMS symptome - the pain moved to another area. I woke up with a crippling pain in the lumbar area. It took me some time to acknowledge that it's due to TMS - the pain just seemed to real...I first attributed it to some strain - I thought I bent too much when I was putting my child to his cot yesterday evening. But then I started thinking...why did the pain only show up in the morning? If it was due to strain, wouldn't it appear already in the evening? Fridays are my days off work, when I'm supposed to take care of my child. And I want it to be quality time - only that it rarely turns up the way I would like it to be...I realised I build a lot of tension before those days. I hope this realisation will help me combat the new pain. And that my testimony of getting rid of tailbone pain will help someone to get better, too - I know too well how awful this condition can be!
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Forest said:

While it's great to hear that you overcame your coccyx pain, I am sorry that you are now having lumbar pain. It sounds like you have recognized it as TMS and have recognized the possible source of the pain. These are two huge steps to recovery. Parenting can be very stressful and be a major source of TMS pain. It might be helpful for you to ask yourself why your days off bring so much tension to you, and how you feel when they do not go exactly the way you want them to.

There is actually a great thread on TMS and motherhood. There is some really good information in it, that might be helpful to you. Keep doing the work and stay positive.
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luvtosew said:

E-Marlene,
I"m so glad you found this board before having surgery, I thought my coccyx was broke (maybe it is) but I never had an MRI because there was no way I was going to have surgery anyway no matter what, as I read it don't help and may make it worst- good heavens who needs worst hey) and I found this chiro who really did the tripper points down there, and man what relief, now I do the squat stand on my total gym , and its really helping,

those muscle knows can just hurt so bad and they tighten and just twist everything, I'm believer in TMS, but not for everything, stress can cause us a lot of stuff, but those muscles is where we store the stress, and thats why pain travels, leaves an area and relocates , ha ha. keep us posted.
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E-marlene said:

As for myself, it took me 2 years to reach this info, although I thought I had read all there was to read on coccydynia on the net.

Although not so much time has passed since I first wrote here, I can say that I managed to escape surgery. I don't think I will ever need it, knowing that the pain can come and go depending on my emotions. At present I am almost pain-free. Even if my tailbone hurts sometimes (and it is nothing compared to the pain I used to have), I just ignore it and carry on as if nothing was happening. My lumbar pain is gone, too (I still don't know whether it was TMS or some strain - it disappeared gradually within 3 days, and without much psychological work).

I feel like I've been given access to some secret knowledge. Healing pain with one's mind, doesn't it sound just crazy?
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Pandamonium09 said:

It does sound crazy at first, but we are living proof that it works.
I am so glad you have managed to reduce your pain and learn ways to manage it. I am confident that in time you will become 99% pain free, just like I did.
Well done!
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Forest said:

Congratulations, Marlene! I think that your great attitude really helped you out. The TMS/PPD approach really is amazing, isn't it?! Going forward, you may have occasional relapses, but armed with an understanding of what is really happening, you don't need to be afraid.
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Walt Oleksy (RIP 2021) · Dec 5, 2013

A strong TMS believer will have second thoughts or more about surgery.
We at TMSWiki.org are not doctors, we don't give medical advice,
but Dr. Sarno repeatedly says most if not all our physical pain is caused by TMS
repressed emotions. Others including myself have become pain-free by believing
100 percent that our symptoms are caused by TMS. Good luck in healing.

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