Frozen shoulder is gone gone gone

I'm new here, but have been a Sarno-holic since his first book. Then when Howard Stern (of all people) wrote the amazing story of curing his OCD in his book Miss America, I went deeper into studying TMS.

Here's one time I forgot about it:

A few years ago, I noticed I couldn't sleep on my left side due to shoulder pain (I sleep with my arm bent at the elbow under my head as most people do). Soon it became full born frozen shoulder. I had never heard of this. Went to my GP, who said "yep, adhesive capsulitis, don't move your arm to anywhere it makes pain. Pain is nature's way of telling you to stop" (Sorry Doc, wrong wrong wrong. Pain is often something the brain uses to distract us from something inside us that it doesn't want to face.)

Time goes on, and it became more and more painful. I couldn't lift my arm above shoulder level. Now, you may ask, "why, Mike didn't to make the TMS connection, if you were so aware of TMS?" My answer- "Dunno". I just didn't think of it.

I go to a specialist on shoulders. Nice guy. But he builds it more in my mind to be structural. And it gets worse (wow amazing!! textbook!)

Sooo. A lot of people I know have had this. My friend got it from throwing a ball to his son. He goes the whole process, two surgeries, physical therapy, etc. They also want me to go to therapy. It was even clicking so loud (heavens!)... so I almost went to PT. Almost.

Then........ then, I talk to Cheri.

Cheri is a friend of ours, and had this shoulder problem for a long time. Really really bad. Surgeries, therapy, I mean for years. I never knew much about it. Her physical therapist put her through a lot of pain. And nothing worked. Nothing.

Until....

She got hit by a truck.

That's right. Hit by a truck. She was in a crosswalk with her boyfriend, and a truck veered and hit them both. She went flying. Arms up. Feet up. Was in the hospital for a while, then out rehabbed slowly.

Fast forward a few years. We're at dinner, and I was having my shoulder thing going on, and getting ready to start PT. Hurt bad that night. Cheri was there, and I remember that she had had so much trouble wiuth her shoulder. I asked her how she is now. And she says perfect. Can move her shoulder all over, no pain. And I ask her what did she do to stop it. "Got hit by the truck" she says. "My arms flew back over my head. And I had a lot of others things to deal with. Forgot about the shoulder completely."

Then it clicked in me. She couldn't get over it cause she needed it. She had TMS, and it released her from the pain when she had a much bigger distraction. "Thank you for your service frozen shoulder. Your services are no longer needed."

The next morning, I went to my workout room, laid on the mat, and moved my arms up and out and all over, in such pain... I moved them everywhere. Unafraid. "There's nothing wrong with you, now move it up".

And guess what.... a week later I'm completely pain free and can move it anywhere. It was a little tight extending outward with my hands behind my head (a little ole TMS residual), but no big deal. I was cured. That was three years ago. It's gone gone gone.

Here's another interesting little footnote... As I'm writing this, guess who's shoulder aches a little. Yep... even just writing it down activates the old TMS pathway... as if TMS is saying, "Wait... Shoulder pain... will that distract you? Can I use that? Can I? Can I?

Good Golly, TMS. Are you that desperate?

"Yep."

 

Mike, What a great and insightful post. Thank you for writing out this experience.

Marcia

 

Thanks Marcia!
Glad you liked it. I hope it helps someone.

Mike

 

Me! Me! This helps me, right now! I'm currently in the midst of a frozen shoulder battle-- it's about my 10,000th symptom imperative or something like that. Geez Louise, when will it just disappear in a poof of smoke? When I finally did have someone examine it, and she confirmed frozen shoulder, I almost started laughing. Seriously?
And then what do you suppose happened once that wasn't scary anymore? I wish I could say it's all better (not yet), but my other shoulder started to hurt-- as if to say, "oh yeah? What about me?? I'm really hurt..."
what a racket !

 

That is officially called 'jealous other shoulder syndrome'.

Okay, I made that up.

hoolie, when I accepted that it was mild oxygen deprivation, and therefore quite harmless, I laid on a mat and really moved it around, in any direction that hurt. Stretched it and that taught my brain that it wasn't serious, and got oxygen back in there. Then the stiffness and pain faded away. Took some time, but worked very well.

 

Good job!

 

Thank you for this post. Very helpful!

 

Thanks Tennis Tom and thanks Andy!
It's nice to feel a part of all this.

 

Thanks for sharing, your story is so encouraging! I feel confident to overcome the whole issue of my frozen shoulder just with Sarno, and no physiotherapist at all, when looking at the pain as een distractor and fear-bringer... Started to play around the pain already this morning (instead of staying at the safe side), telling my brain there is nothing seriously wrong with the shoulder... Amazing things happened. Still a bit shaky about it, but it seems that I've found an entrance, really.

 

Awesome Lydia! Would love to hear more about the amazing things. I too started playing around with it yesterday in a rare moment of courage (combined with just being really pissed off at the whole charade).

 

Here is a little report of the amazing things that happened today.

Thanks to Mikes story and some questions in this program about when I did some physical activity for the last time, I spontaneously decided to do exercises on my stepper upstairs in the bedroom. I saw, when I went there, my mind criticizing me I'm being foolish and too impulsive, and that I should be careful about my shoulder, but still I went on.

I started stepping and at the same time singing out loud 'There's nothing wrong with my arm and shoulder, tralala', very playfully and quite loudly so I could hear myself very clearly. And guess what, in a couple of minutes the shoulder relaxed completely, and I felt blood flowing into it. I felt happy and normal as if my shoulder was 100% healthy. I went on for 10 minutes. Amazing, because I have hardly moved my body in the last week. That was so much trust.

I saw during exercising that the mind kept quiet and actually didn't try to prove that I was wrong. The experience was so obvious and real. This was about four hours ago and still my shoulder feels so much alive, soft and relaxed.

I realized that I've cut through a lot of fear to hurt my shoulder. Every doctor or physiotherapist had told me until now, that moving the shoulder again would cost me a couple of months. And that I first have to wait for the inflammation to go away. Also a friend of mine who has had a frozen shoulder warned me about this. It took her 3 years. Fear can be so strong.

I am so grateful that I found today my own way and not copying Mike. I have tried though, but laying on my back didn't work at all. I didn't gave up, and followed the impulse he gave me. So grateful to you Mike!

I also relate to the other shoulder starting to hurt. That happened today too. What an amazing phenomena. I have seen and experienced it so many times that the pain sometimes wanders through the body. Because of the experience while stepping, I managed to not go with the fear and trust there's nothing wrong with my body.

I also remembered today a kind of a prayer that I've worked with often: 'I am healthy, perfect, strong and vital, filled up with love, harmony and happiness'. I started singing that too and I am very curious where this all will bring me.

In the meantime I go on with Day 5 of the program.

 

Lydia and hollie-

All you need to know is that the doctors are wrong. Sorry, but they are. Their attitude, concern and advice just feed right into our brains' desire to distract us from 'bad' thoughts and feelings, and keep the distraction going. Brains are like computers, and will wreak so much havoc in our lives, cause so much pain and distress, simply to meet it's objective goal: to avoid these thoughts and feelings at all costs.

You have harmless, mild oxygen deprivation.

Harmless.
Mild.
Oxygen.
Deprivation.

So, move around...
Laugh at it!
Challenge it!
Tease it!
Tell it you like it! Say more more more please!

The only power it has, is the power you give it.

It won't kill you. It won't even hurt you, once your brain is convinced that you don't believe it's lies.

But the brain is stupid. You just need to keep at it, and when your brain is convinced that the defense doesn't work, it will stop using it.

 

Here is a little report of the amazing things that happened today.

Thanks to Mikes story and some questions in this program about when I did some physical activity for the last time, I spontaneously decided to do exercises on my stepper upstairs in the bedroom. I saw, when I went there, my mind criticizing me I'm being foolish and too impulsive, and that I should be careful about my shoulder, but still I went on.

I started stepping and at the same time singing out loud 'There's nothing wrong with my Arm and shoulder, tralala', very playfully and quite loudly so I could hear myself very clearly. And guess what, in a couple of minutes the shoulder relaxed completely, and I felt blood flowing into it. I felt happy and normal as if my shoulder was 100% healthy. I went on for 10 minutes. Amazing, because I have hardly moved my body in the last week. That was so much trust.

I saw during exercising that the mind kept quiet and actually didn't try to prove that I was wrong. The experience was so obvious and real. This was about four hours ago and still my shoulder feels so much alive, soft and relaxed.

I realized that I've cut through a lot of fear to hurt my shoulder. Every doctor or physiotherapist had told me until now, that moving the shoulder again would cost me a couple of months. And that I first have to wait for the inflammation to go away. Also a friend of mine who has had a frozen shoulder warned me about this. It took her 3 years. Fear can be so strong.

I am so grateful that I found today my own way and not copying Mike. I have tried though, but laying on my back didn't work at all. I didn't gave up, and followed the impulse he gave me. So grateful to you Mike!

I also relate to the other shoulder starting to hurt. That happened today too. What an amazing phenomena. I have seen and experienced it so many times that the pain sometimes wanders through the body. Because of the experience while stepping, I managed to not go with the fear and trust there's nothing wrong with my body.

I also remembered today a kind of a prayer that I've worked with often: 'I am healthy, perfect, strong and vital, filled up with love, harmony and happiness'. I started singing that too and I am very curious where this all will bring me.

In the meantime I go on with Day 5 of the program.

Hi Lydia,
Wonderful report!!!
Andy B

 

This is great, thank you all for sharing!

 

Hi,
I'm a total Sarno believer. I just need help understanding something, as I currently have been diagnosed w Frozen Shoulder. The MRI showed the capsule is encapsulated. I'm in so much excruciating pain. Tears are involved. Pain is so incredibly bad I can't sleep at night. Can't lift my arm behind my back. I don't know how I can bust thru an encapsulated capsule just with my mind. Do you get what I'm saying. I would like to Sarno this but feel like there is a physical cause that showed up on the MRI...

 

Abel,
Even the regular medical pages say that frozen shoulder "goes away on it's own." And that they don't know the reason it comes on or leaves. So, even though they are calling it "encapsulated" are you sure your other shoulder wouldn't look exactly the same in an X-ray? It seems to me that...as Sarno says...a bulging disc can be present and not cause any pain...most likely that's true for whatever they're seeing on this x-ray. Keep believing. You don't have to "bust through" it, you just have to remember that it doesn't have to be the source of pain.

best wishes to you.
P/s: my shoulder is going through similar, but not as intense. I go outside and swing my arms naturally and try to not clench against pain, but distract myself with the trees, flowers, hillsides, etc.

 

Thank you!!! Your explanation makes so much sense. Thank you for explaining that. I will read and reread this as I'm off to sleep soon. I totally get what you are saying. Best wishes to you too and thanks for taking the time to reply. <hugs>.

 

Thank you so much for this!
I have been having shoulder troubles since August!! (Was thrown off my horse in June, concussion, ambulance, terrifying).
Wrote about the fall on TMS forum and committed to not sublimating my fear, anger and sadness at being thrown.
No matter how many feelings I have felt, and I am very honest with people close to me, the pain has worsened. It's like my body is crying. I finally saw a orthopedist, even though I scoff at anything but TMS as a diagnosis.
I have had five physical therapy sessions and... the pain is worse. I don't want to get hit by a truck to get over this.
I've just had some miserable times since the concussion. Afraid to ride, afraid to ride alone on trail, afraid of my horse. Wanted to sell him, it was suggested I wait a year - since he's a wonderful horse - I love him to bits! So, I've been riding, facing fear. For a few months, I cried every time I rode.
See? I'm feeling all the feelings that arise.
Unconscious feelings that are under the shoulder pain?
I clearly have some more exploring to do.
Deep breath.
When in deep process, dive deeper.

 

@Bodhigirl, when I was doing Pilates, I had a private instructor who told me quite a bit about the conditions she overcame. She developed a frozen shoulder shortly after the traumatic death of a relative and overcame it after she had time to grieve her loss. Sometimes physical therapy can make certain people feel worse because it reinforces the idea that something is physically wrong with you, as opposed to being a product of the mind-body connection.

You are certainly not alone!

 

Thank you so much for this. I am going to end PT tomorrow. I am so much better! Changing my brain. Letting myself grieve even more deeply.