Multiple Herniations - TMS Question

Hello all. On a recent MRI I have been diagnosed with the below herniations. Thoracic and cervical are new (6 months) but the lumbar ones have been around for awhile (years).

I’ve been feeling mild pain in the neck and mid back for around 6 months. Pain in the low back for around 3 years. Went to PT for all three areas and all pain points were gone for a certain amount of time. However, the pain constantly shifting around to different spots and never seems to be at two spots at one time. This goes for both nerve and muscle pain. For example, when I’m on a walk my pain can go from the mid back to low back and then feel a tingle in my foot for 30 seconds and then goes away completely. I haven’t had neck pain in awhile but I feel it on the left side of my neck as I type this.

I recently read Dr Sarno “healing back pain” 5 days ago and it resonated with me. I fit the personality type and my pain seemingly went away or dissipated by a large a percentage.

The question I can’t answer is, if pain is coming from the discs than why don’t I feel pain in the same spots all the time? When I’m doing PT all pain disappears.

I know herniations take time to heal but I feel a bit lost. Where do I go from here?

currently I’m stuck between thinking it’s TMS and also thinking it’s structural or a blend. My strategy has been walking, McGill excersises, and PT.

thoracic spine - small central disc herniation T5/T6
Cervical - have a few small disc bulges / herniations
Lumbar - 3 herniations - two small / one moderate sized

 

"The question I can’t answer is, if pain is coming from the discs than why don’t I feel pain in the same spots all the time? When I’m doing PT all pain disappears.".
Great question! Doesn't make sense, does it. Pain that moves and shifts is a common trait of TMS.

The body heals. Disc herniation heal in about 3 months, as do most issues in the body. As a matter of fact, there are studies showing that most people from their 20's on have at least one, and usually multiple disc herniation yet most report no pain.

TMS strategy is not physical in the sense of any exercises etc. During the time Sarno wrote his books, he actually asked people to stop their physical interventions like PT, exercises to cure or solve the pain problem (general exercise is encouraged for overall fitness and fun), the approach is that the pain is not usually physical in causal but it's because of repressed emotions and a habitual, obsessive focus on the symptoms and the outcome of your chronic pain. The main repressed emotion is subconscious RAGE or anger.

You are off to a great start, seeing that you resonate with Healing Back Pain.
Now take a greater look at the actions Sarno suggests you begin to take. Take notice of what he suggests you do, and pay heed to anything he doesn't mention or leaves out...eg PT etc. the reason he suggests not participating in PT is attitude and that the brain will usually continually focus on the physical and believe in a physical causation of the pain if you continue to focus on it. He asks you to THINK PSYCHOLOGICALLY which is his first tenant of healing. Turn to the recurrent source of irritation (thanks @Baseball65 ) or what might subconsciously be pissing you off. To learn more about what to do and how to find this "irritation" or anger/rage refer once again to Sarno's book where he suggests three columns of subject matter to begin to use as self-discovery. I didn't find his direction here very understandable, but one of his students and colleagues, Nichole Sach's has developed and excellent, expanded and easy to understand method to do this work called Journalspeak - you can find directions here: https://www.yourbreakawake.com/journalspeak (JournalSpeak | BreakAwake by Nicole Sachs)

Good Luck!

 

Before I went for 'the Grand Placebo" (surgery that didn't do anything) I asked these same questions and got different answers from different back 'specialists'
During the course of treatment for pain exclusively on my left side, I began having sciatica in my right leg as well..every day, at the same time!

They MRI'd me again and said, "No you still have herniations on the left" and then gave me a gobbledegook, unscientific explanation of .....whatever.

Then, after I got fed up with the chronic pain center ,beyond human endurance, I read Sarno , discovered it was a regional process, and got better in 3 or four weeks after a year and a half of playing circle games in the pain industry.

everything you are saying is consistent with my expeience...My pain was at its lowest or non -existent when I was lifting heavy weights at the pain center..hell, I could bench the whole stack and was still very strong,...the pain would vanish during exercise, but two hours later I was nearly in tears from pain, just washing dishes or doing regular household chores? That doesn't make any sense with the 'structural' story, but it makes perfect sense in Sarno's world

My favorite Sarno quote of all time "Therapeutic eclecticism equals diagnostic incompetence"

and I got nothing but eclecticism from the army of doctors, chiros and therapists. I got a 'unified field theory' from Sarno

 

@Cactusflower Thank you for the feedback and encouragement. Agreed, I need to start taking what Dr. Sarno said and put it into action. I started the SEP today and found it helpful already.

 

@Baseball65 I'm hoping to have the same recovery time frame as you. I need to double down on my belief that what I'm experiencing is TMS. The thing is I went on a vacation for a week this summer down the beach and had no back pain. That included lugging around beach equipment and sitting in a chair for 4 hours 7 days in a row. The pain only returned when I was diagnosed with the herniation. Glad to hear that I have the same symptoms as you so I'm hoping for the best.

 

Thank you for the feedback. I have to remind myself not to give myself a timeline as I'm in it for the long haul.