Back Pain Cured, Neck pain processing...

I don't have much time, so my Story will be a bit short, I will tell more if you're interested, but right now i feel like i'm "obliged" to post my story, as reading others helped me a lot.

Onset of pain :
2012: Neck.
I was tough and didn't listen my body a lot, so I kept going with my sports and so on.
Don't know how this happened. Maybe a bike fall 4-6 month before. (ha ha ha !)

2013 : Neck and arm.
Stopped Sport. Passed a MRI. Found something (Of course !!!)

2014 : Back pain + Sciatica
Building a IKEA bed, plus some work at home
MRI : "slightly" positive (ha ha ha !)

Tried the TMS approach, but i'm too much scientific for it to work.
I did agree with most of the theory, but the lack of real scientific studies, plus the remaining doubt linked with any theory in a scientific mind made me think "why not, that's interesting and "maybe" the real cause of my pain.

I did embrass the inflammation theory, and started a no gluten diet, while triying and reading TMS stuffs.

I had multiple sh*ts to set in my life.
My father died very suddenly 8 months before the onset of pain.
I was 35, and no girlfriend, and no children.
I was feeling like getting an old bachelor.
The company where I work is a mess.

This summer I met someone. She's nice. ;-)
Stopped the diet, because too complicated not to drink beer ;-)
And didn't care about my back, stopped using pillows in my bed.
Etc.

I'm pain-free since september, regarding my back.
(For the ones that are into Psycho stuff, my backpain started while getting a new bed, and I remember saying to me "You don't share it very often, buddy")

So no more sciatica, no more back pain.
I do have very mild paresthesia while driving, but I think it's a learned behavior. I don't care at all. I'm 100% convinced it will vanished. My back does hurt a bitwhen standing a long time at bar or meetings, but it did before.

So thank you! It was indeed TMS. I may really hurt myself at the begining, but the pain did not vanished when I cured. The solution is really for me, TO NOT GIVE A F*CK.

Thing that I can't do for my neck at the moment. I still feel the pain, parestehesia sometimes, have crisis. The crisis do not last very long (2-3 days comparing to multiple weeks), and my neck hates the cold.

I guess I have to quit my job! ;-)

(And guess what, I have new symptoms! Psoriasis, mild panic attack, etc!) Knowing it's just my mind searching new ways is cool.

Thanks again, and I'll say it for myself, but :
If your pain is not that severe
If it changes over time, with days without it
If the pain vanishes during exercices, but is more severe after (1 day+)
If the MRI are not crystal clear

It's not physical, it's a pain created or prolonged by your mind!

 

An update, one year and a half after my message...
My post was indeed the beginning of the recovery!
Since this post, my back completely cured. I did forget about paraesthesia and I began to be active again.
I cycle to work 30’ in the morning and 30’ back every day. That’s so good for my mental and physical health !!!!
This winter I went back at ski touring with a very heavy backpack and everything went…perfect. The pure joy of being active in the beautiful snowy mountains, the ability to tour on multiple days despite the weight of the backpack… A thing I thought I had lost forever during four long years where I was only able to “walk the dog” as my mates said on small beginners’ itineraries …

I go at the gym and started kung fu this year. Kung fu is very scary at the beginning, it’s a martial art! There's a lot of active stretch, cobra poses, a lot of impacts... But it is also a way to heal the body with exercises that really help to strengthen the core, and to rewire the brain in perceiving the body and its movements. We do what they call « internal exercices », where we move the upper body while flexing all muscles, it’s magic for shoulder and neck pain !

Of course my pain in the arm and neck vanished! To be honest it’s not completely cured, as I still perceive a weakness in my arm, and I do feel tension in my neck while working too much at the computer, with too much stress. But that’s really minor, and I really don’t mind at all. I did not have a serious crisis this winter, the first in 7 years !
Either it will disappear like my back pain, or it will stay the same, but it does not hamper my life, so why bother ?

So what was the key?
First, gain knowledge. I don’t know how works the TMS syndrome. Is it really physical? Or is it just a learned behaviour of your brain that lowers the threshold to pain? I tend to think it’s the latter. But either way, your body is fully functional!
Second, get your sh*ts solved: a new life: girlfriend, work in my case. I was fully aware that I was stuck in my life but knowing was not enough. I’d should have sought help from a professional.
Third : be active! I’ve tried that…Went for a run, etc. But was always discouraged by the onset of pain 2 days later, and was to afraid to push through it. Now I’d went to a gentle gym at first to beat movement fear, then be a lot more gradual in my physical activities and go for it a lot more frequently. Every day, or every 2 days is the way for your brain to get used to physical activities and higher the pain threshold. Go for a run on Wednesday and Sunday will just scare more your brain and make it produce fear instead of curing it !
Thanks for all, I hope this could help others as every testimony is important to believe in the inocuousity of pain. My last advice would be to cycle to work if you have the possibility: It’s good for you, and good for the planet !

(Post written completely sore from my kung fu session yesterday ;-) )