Disc herniation due to lifting

I just recently learnt abiut TMS. I injured my back doing deadlift in the gym. I have 2 herniated discs. No sciatica, just backache, which is becoming more chronic. PT is not working.

I just want to ask - could the chronic pain be TMS or I will never get better, because I injured myself doing deadlift. Most TMS dont know how or where did they injured. Does it mean, its not TMS in my case? Thanks.

 

Hello @erianm
Dr. Sarno’s book Healing Back Pain will explain tms and chronic back pain (lasting more than 3 months). It is a very good place to start.
Many of us have been “injured” doing physical things - and pain becomes chronic due to fear and our own expectations.
Dr. Schubiner’s videos are a a nice introduction to Dr. Sarno’s book https://unlearnyourpain.com/mind-body-videos/ (Mind Body Videos - Dr. Howard Schubiner's Mind Body Medicine)

 

Incorrect. About half of OG TMS patients 'think' they know where or how they were 'injured'. When I had my herniated disc I was 'certain' that i had happened when I lifted a bunch of heavy crap at work and carried across stage.

BUT unless you own your own MRI or PETscan and do one every day, I doubt if anybody in the world really knows when or how they got injured with regards to discs.

I had sciatica numerous times before my herniated disc got diagnosed or 'discovered'...notice I use quotation marks? That is because after reading Sarno and his books you will re-think how you perceive this crap. Inevitably upon reflection we find that something was going on in our life that needed attention, and the disc, ligament, issue was just there.

I have personal proof ; My vertebrae in my back was actually Broken circa 2013-4 during a fall off a ladder, but I had zero symptoms... It wasn't discovered until around 2015 during an MRI for something totally unrelated....they asked if I had had any Gnarly accidents since they found a vertebrae that had healed. I ASSUME it was the ladder thing, but i have also fallen, been hit, rolled over riding my bike,etc..Pain is there to distract, not alert....or it is an alert, but to something else completely different.

 

On Wed 11/20, while getting ready for bed, pop in the lower back with excruciating pain that lasted for the next 24 hours. I quickly attributed the pain to a misalignment due to teleworking at home for the past three years. With no real improvement til Friday, I ended up at my Chiro office for an extended treatment. I could barely get out of the car due to pain in my lower back. Post treatment, things felt a little better, but the pain was about same when I got home.

I took out, dusted off the 'healing back pain' for another read and binged on Schubiner's youtube vids on Friday afternoon until midnight. Continuing to do the mental exercises Saturday morning, I experienced 70% pain relief out of nowhere late Saturday afternoon. By Saturday night, I was able to move with little low back pain. But, suddenly I had constant pain in the groin area. My first thought was another misalignment, but stopped myself quickly and continued to focus on the psychological. On Sunday, I decided not to cancel a potluck dinner and worked on it with pain all day. Yes, it was very unpleasant but I had my headphones on and continued listening to Dr. Schubiner's lectures while standing over the grill. At bedtime Sunday night, the groin pain was almost gone.

Monday 11/20 with back pain at 20%, I'm continuing to overcome the fear of physical activity and planning on working out at the gym tonight. There is some anxiety but I know it's key to getting rid of the pain.

Currently, there are a lot of stressful events in my life, including care for both my elderly parents that's been a big drain. But, it shouldn't physically hurt and my subconscious needs to learn that.

Focus on the psychological and not the physical. It's very difficult to do when the pain is travelling from one area of the body to another. But you must keep fighting the subconscious. Good luck!

 

But how do I know if my pain is structural or TMS? I have findings on MRI, compression of the nerve. Does that mean its purely structural? This is my MRI spine https://imgur.com/a/5T65VuL (imgur.com)

 

But how do I know if my pain is structural or TMS? I have findings on MRI, compression of the nerve. Does that mean its purely structural?
For example, this is my spine MRI https://imgur.com/a/5T65VuL (imgur.com)

 

This requires some detective work on your part. Honestly, without the 'healing back pain' book, it's hard to determine if TMS or other. Based on the book, my best guess is something at the subconscious, the fear and anxiety of oncoming pain is the issue here.

You can listen to Healing Back Pain here -



(Dr. Sarno is the narrator)

 

If we could compare MRI’s you would wonder how I can walk at all. Nerves, discs and all kinds of other issues neck to hips.
Studies show there is very little evidence that chronic back pain (3 months or more) is caused by what we see in an MRI. A large amount of people have disc and nerve problems and have no pain. None!
Dr. Sarno explains this in his book.

 

Too many studies to list here have found 'compression' i.e. Herniations in Majority groups of people with NO pain... according to the true scientific method, if there is an exception to a rule, you need a new rule.
ALL of us on this forum who are pain free all had 'real' diagnoses.

That is addressed in Healing Back Pain. Extensively. That is why becoming familiar with the literature is so important.
It is also REALLY important to subject the 'conventional diagnosis' to extreme scrutiny.....about a third of the book is dedicated to that.

The 'compressed nerve' story doesn't hold water. When I was under the belief that I was hurt by my 'herniation' I had pain, numbness, weakness, burning, spasms,etc. The only thing that tended to mitigate the pain was PT and Steroids injected directly on the spot (I had NINE epidurals BTW...3 courses of 3)
Sarno points out, compression of a nerve causes NUMBNESS... I fell asleep on a toilet once post surgery....I couldn't feel either leg or even move a muscle! I have fallen asleep in weird positions...when I wake up my arm, hand, face is NUMB not painful...certainly nothing like the horror of sciatica.

Sarno's theory of Ischemia makes way better sense...ischemia will make you numb, but also creates all sorts of other feelings...burning, cramping, spasms etc.

Upon reading the book over and over and comparing my experience with the medical world, I realized there were way too many things that their therapy and treatments didn't explain, or make good sense. I usually felt better after working out and doing therapy...If it was really a structural problem that would make NO sense at all??? BUT if the problem is localized blood/oxygen debt that makes perfect sense... why do PT's have people use ice/heat, electro-stim,etc? What is that gonna do to a structural problem? Nothing! BUT all of those things tend to simulate blood flow

But, the proof is always in the result. I was told I could never return to my job as a construction worker...I would have to be careful the rest of my life ....when I was 32! I am now 58... I just finished building a 400 foot fence. I had to hand dig 50 footers, cut out roots and run a jackhammer all day blasting granite... my 20something co-workers were like "This sucks!" (exhausting)
I was sore almost every night..and totally fine a couple hours after work. I am bragging not about my physical prowess, but about my lack of concern . The FEAR that the Medical world instills in people is totally negligent. 'compression' as you call it is NORMAL again process.

as Sarno said Virtually every person over the age of 20 begins to 'deteriorate'...I am now 5'8"... I used to be almost 5'10"..where did those inches go???? Oh, yeah.. I am shrinking. I am getting older! But I am not in pain, because I learned what causes pain, how to abort it before it even begins and what to do in case I get a little 'tickle' that starts to distract me...and I learned it all by reading Sarno, over and over until I understood what caused the pain and what didn't.

The Pain is real..in fact, it is the worst thing I ever remember and i have had quite a few 'real' accidents...but TMS/chronic pain is there for a reason. When you stop thinking about structural things and turn your mind to psychological things, the symptoms are no longer doing their job and they go away. If it sounds simplistic, It IS! But it takes a concerted mental effort and some self searching.