Can TMS cause visible signs of pain e.g. redness?

Hi everyone,

Does anyone know or have experience of TMS causing redness, inflammation or even bruising? I know it can't cause a break in the skin like a cut or scrape, but was wondering about the other three mentioned above? If so I'd love to hear some success stories where TMS has presented in this way.

Thanks,

Calum

 

Hello Calum,
Two days ago my hands turned bright red and were painful. I found info on this wonderful forum. I hope this might help:
https://www.tmswiki.org/forum/threads/terrified-of-erythromelalgia-like-symptoms.27135/ (Terrified of erythromelalgia-like symptoms)

I am a huge fan of miffybunny, and her advice always helps me. I think she would say yes, TMS can certainly cause redness, etc.
This symptom is brand new to me, and my anxiety led me down a rabbit hole that I thankfully jumped out.
Best,
Peggy

 

Yes ...if the body has the function to do something, the brain can co opt it. I had extreme color changes, swelling, and even bone changes. I've seen things in waiting rooms that were unreal (a woman who looked to be covered head to toe in tattoos from vascular changes and pain, a girl whose one leg had totally atrophied and the bone had thinned out so much that they were terrified of her falling....she got totally better btw). The brain will alter the physiology. We see this in mild transient ways with blushing or sexual arousal for ex., but the brain can do extreme things like blindness, paralysis, blisters etc etc etc. I fully recovered and so have multitudes of others. The brain is very powerful but everything is reversible except for amputation or death.

 

My Knee was visibly swollen when I had 'issues' (TMS) there....
However, when the pain went away, the ugly swelling didn't OR Maybe I always had swollen knees?
A lot of this stuff we never really notice until we have a symptom.

I had a swollen Pink-Red foot when I had a Foot TMS thing this summer. Then , I looked at the foot that didn't hurt and it also was swollen???

But yeah..If ischemia is reducing blood flow/oxygen all sorts of little weird skin things can happen...remember Sarno's early wok, he noticed TMS prone people were alos subject to weird skin things like Hives and psoriasis...all controlled by the autonomic never system

 

Thank you for responding! This is mind-boggling, but I believe everything you said. It gives me hope and not a small measure of comfort I know when I Dr. Google my ailments, I am interfering big time with healing. Invariably, the worst case scenario is what I latch onto..

Going back to my book and re-think and re-educate. You have always given me so much helpful information!

 

Thanks for the link Peggy, I really hope your hands feel better soon =)

Calum

 

Thanks for the reply Miffybunny, I'm having a fair few issues with my feet at the moment where no matter what footwear I wear or what I try there is always some discomfort somewhere sometimes accompanied by changes to the skin sometimes not. I think it must be TMS, the discomforts are so many it seems unfeasible that they could all be caused mechanically. I also noticed yesterday that my foot was aching while just wearing a pair of socks I looked down and I realised the socks had an elasticated part that gripped my foot more than the rest of the sock. The pressure from that elasticated part couldn't be causing my foot any damage, but my brain chose to interpret it as an ache. Must be TMS.

 

Thanks for your reply BaseBall65, glad your knee cleared up. Glad to hear that TMS can caused changes to skin colour and inflammation etc. it just adds a new layer of doubt when a body part hurts and is accompanied by swelling or redness, but I will treat as TMS and see.

 

Thank you so much! Anxiety seems to be a common thread with TMS :/. Of course my anxiety is more troubling than my hands. I think you understand. Blessings.

 

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I just r

 

I do indeed, I'm starting to think of my anxiety as my primary mind-body symptom that perpetuates my other symptoms.

 

I could not have said it as well. I am going to keep this as my mantra, or as something.

 

It certainly seems so based off what others have told me; I'm the OP of that thread that was linked higher up in the post, complaining of erythromelalgia-like symptoms. I unfortunately am still dealing with them, so I can't say "yes it was TMS and it went away!!" but CRPS is widely considered a mindbody issue in these circles and is typified by redness and swelling, among other symptoms. So you can probably apply any CRPS success story to your problem, as proof that an issue which can present visibly and very dramatically can still be TMS and still be healed by this work.

(He says, a hypocrite himself lol but I still think it's true )

 

The hardest part about that is the 'fully committing'. It seems sometimes like the longer someone has done this the sneakier it gets. That swollen bottom of my feet thing was really hard to 'discard' and 'ignore' because I HAD been running hard with bad shoes and on pavement, so the irritation SEEMED likely, right?
The 'clue' was that when I iced it, it got WORSE. When I have been drilled by baseballs, or gotten hit really hard and inflammation was just normal, the ice usually made it feel better. One of the symptoms of something being TMS is it's resistance to normal treatment
It was a discussion on this forum with somebody who pointed out WHY I probably needed a symptom ...I had just told her about the ice making it worse....TMS is clever, but not unsolvable

After our discussion, I went 'screw it' and actually went out running harder in the same crappy shoes on the same paved track, all the while focusing on the painful emotional thing that I was telling myself I was 'ok' with....and the pain ceased immediately.
I have never bothered to look to see if they are swollen again, because that too is part of the recovery strategy...not focusing on the body.

That is one of the key strategies...literally challenging our unconscious to a brawl..."You are not the Boss of ME baby!"
"I am not listening to you anymore..and I don't believe you...THIS is what I am gonna pay attention to"

to a passer by, I might seem like a crazy wet-brained street person.... BUT I don't have any TMS pain. Fair trade

 

Fair, indeed! Your story is fascinating, but for me fits with TMS theory. Ignoring it and living your life seems to work for many. I am going through something awful now with my family, and why now do I have this. Maybe "I" needed a symptom to cope. Who knows?

 

I've read a fair bit about CRPS being mindbody too, wishing all the best for you on your TMS journey.

 

Indeed, I've had various TMS symptoms for 10 years, first was RSI and got rid of that completely within a year. This foot stuff, is proving more difficult, e.g. I've got flat feet, I can see they are flat and I'm on the merrygoround of are they flatter than they were and so I've got symptoms or are they the same as they ever were and this is TMS.

Interesting what you've said about icing, I did ice an issue I was having with a bruise on my ankle/shin that kept occuring when I went for hikes in a certain pair of boots (yes I know get a different pair of boots, but one of the TMS things that I think I have is I find it really hard to get footwear to fit and these are the best of what is available for that sort of boot), and the bruising definetly got worse. Or potentially there was no bruising before I iced and I did some sort of skin/burn bruise with the ice. Either way TMS.

Glad you resolved your foot thing. =)

 

Calum, I hope things are going better for you.