Help!

Need some advice , been following this new mindset for close to 3 weeks and have seen a huge reduction in my lower back pain. I just vacuumed my house and I can feel the pain increasing , how do I handle this ?? I should note that I have been slowly returning to do things around the house and my pain has stayed reduced while doing the other things . I also noticed while out doing groceries my pain is still reduced ( it use to be high from the constant standing) so I’m not sure why the vacuuming is making the pain Increase?

 

Lots of us in the early stages of recovery got increased back pain when vacuuming lol!!! It’s all the same thing, your brain triggering a well known pain pathway to distract you from some subconscious perceived danger. Perhaps you could take the pressure off somehow with routine tasks by breaking them up or making them fun with music etc. By doing this you are practicing creating safety as the new feeling to associate with an old trigger.

 

Thank you for your reply .
So what I’m experiencing is that my brain knows that vacuuming use to be a huge trigger for me ? I have to retrain my brain somehow by distracting it when I vacuum? So maybe ear phones with music might help ?

 

This trigger is subconscious so you may have a negative feeling about vacuuming or the pressure around it that your subconscious is interpreting as danger because our brains cannot differentiate between emotional and physical danger. Therefore your subconscious brain is triggering the pain pathway to “help” you focus on something else and that is the pain.

If you can create a new positive and happy/safe feeling with these triggering activities then you are overriding the old pathway. You can practice this at your own pace with something joyful like music, dancing around with the vacuum . Anything that helps you to stay in the moment and change your feelings towards this activity.

Remember these activities are harmless and you are practicing feeling safe around them again. Don’t worry if you still experience pain as the goal is to change your feelings. The pain free status will come after.

 

Thank you so much for explaining that , so hard to wrap my Brain around all of this . I will definitely try to approach it differently the next time I vacuum.

 

It’s a conditioned response. You’ve had pain in the past from vacuuming so your brain knows *exactly* how to get your attention - with pain you’ve become accustomed to.

Keep going, acknowledge the feelings but don’t let them make you stop. Unless, of course, the pain is drastically worse than before. Some people can push through extreme pain but I’ve never found they helpful. As long as it’s manageable, just know that the pain is not structural and can’t hurt you while you are doing this safe activity. Knowing that you don’t need to fear the sensations will help to calm your nervous system, and eventually your brain will stop sending the pain signals.

 

Thank you! My god our brains are very tricky! I completely get it now , it being a conditioned response . It use to be a huge trigger to do that chore that I actually stopped for awhile (gasp) so hard to have to stop with the type of personality I have. I decided enough is enough , I will continue doing the vacuuming and remind myself I am fine and it’s just a sensation . I may try using my headphones and blasting music to see if that will distract my brain.

 

Hi! It can be anything, really. A possibility is that your subconscious brain doesn't want to vacuum clean so it sends pain to protest. Or maybe you just expect the pain to come and that is the reason the pain comes. Or it can be any other reason that escapes our conscious thinking. I have to admit that sometimes I think psychologically about what triggers the pain, but there are times I cannot find a reason.

Be strong! TMS is really annoying but we learn to live with it.