Purely nerve damage from surgery, or some TMS involved?

Hi all,

I'm truly hoping, 14 years after getting debilitating pain after surgery on a varicocele (which is something like a varicose vein in the testicle), there's hope. I've discovered TMS is a thing, and that the mind may be responsible for some or even all of this pain...

My story starts when I was about 25, when I would have occasional, passing pain in one testicle. Five years later I see a doctor and have surgery to correct a varicocele - a supposedly simple operation. However, from the moment of slowly waking up from the general anaesthetic (me: "it hurts!", nurse: "it's not meant to hurt, you still have anaesthetic in you!"), to now, 14 years on, I've had pain in the left testicle, occasionally in my left leg and foot, and sometimes my left upper body and left side of my head is super-sensitive to touch.

Triggers are compressing the muscle around the scar, such as when lifting my leg up, or lying on my left side. Running and jumping are also definitely off the cards as this also brings about the pain for days or weeks (no more tennis, which I loved, for example). The testicle and scar area are sensitive to the slightest touch. The pain also comes if I have the flu. Lastly, I feel vibrations from machinery through my left foot far more than my right foot, which can also induce the pain.

I've seen a pain specialist, urologists and family doctors and had ultrasounds, and no-one has has been able to state the reason, apart from "possible damage to a nerve during surgery".

Therefore I've always assumed the pain will be with me for ever, since nerves can't heal.

But my hope is that at least some of the pain is induced by my mind, catastrophising my situation: I really didn't need that surgery, as the original pain was infrequent - I only had the surgery as I was pushed into it by my then-partner, as she wanted kids and varicoceles can be a cause of infertility. I hold a grudge against my ex for this, which is another negative emotion I'm caught up in. Oh, and I resent the surgeon for making the mistake of severing my nerve! I tend to get stressed and angry sometimes too.

The question is, can it be TMS, or partly TMS causing this chronic pain, even though there are very clear physical triggers? Is there hope?

Thanks for listening!

 

Hi Peter and welcome!

I think if you scanned our Success Stories subforum, you'd find a lot of examples of TMS symptoms that originated with medical procedures that were dubious to begin with. Combine those misgivings with the natural sensitivity (physical and emotional) that we attach to our reproductive organs, and it sounds like a perfect recipe for TMS. You're already making some of the other emotional connections.

If you haven't read Dr. Sarno, be sure to do so (I recommend his last book, The Divided Mind, with additional chapters by five other MDs and a therapist). Then start doing our free Structured Educational Program on the wiki. And read at least one Success Story every day for incentive and inspiration. You'll soon realize that everyone has a unique story, and a unique path to healing.

The SEP exposes you to different ideas, articles, and exercises. The most important thing is to reach 100% acceptance of the TMS diagnosis (many of us here diagnosed ourselves after being told, as you have been told, that the medical professionals can't find anything wrong). The second most important thing is to be 100% committed to doing "the work" with complete and open emotional honesty. No one needs to know what you are writing about or experiencing except yourself, but you must be totally honest with yourself, and you don't want to let your fearful brain distract you into continuing to repress your true emotions.

Good luck!

 

Hi Jan, thanks so much for your uplifting reply! I'm checking out all the resources you've mentioned. Let's hope I'll be writing in the Success Stories subforum soon!

 

Neuropathic pain always benefits from work on emotions and the mind.
You say you are bitter towards your ex however you mention having had pains from time to time before the surgery even happened. There was predisposition to chronic pain in there.

What I am suspicious of is intense pain as soon as you woke up from surgery. The nurse was right and you should not have felt any pain at all as you still had anesthetic (either moprhine or fentanyl) on you. The only condition I know that presents in this way is CRPS, but at the same time I am not a neuro or a pain consultant and you don't sound like being in 10/10 pain so it highly unlikely it is CRPS (which is very rare btw).

Pelvic pain is extremely complex and hard to pinpoint what exactly causes it.

I say try TMS healing by all means because pain is something the medical community does not fully understand yet. I am currently reading "You are the placebo" and watched a documentary on the placebo effect as well and it actually looks like the brain is a lot more powerful that we believe. Pain is definitely something that can go into remission and/or heal. You may benefit from reading @ezer 's story he suffered from pudendal pain for years and got better.

Even if the surgeon severed a nerve, nerves grow back so you should have been healed by now.
I suffer from pelvic pain too so I sympathise with your situation, but don't give up please

 

http://www.tmswiki.org/forum/threads/pelvic-pain-healed.8680/ (Pelvic Pain - Healed)

 

Hi there, my friend is having a surgery this week also on a varicocele so what can i do for him after the surgery? How long does it take to recover? Thanks!

 

Hi,

what is the grade of the varicocele ? If the surgery is being done to treat aspects of sperm quality or count it makes sense.
However, if the sole objective of the surgery to tackle pain then I am not sure if its worth it. I had a surgery done for a varicocele and it made things worse of me(Infact the pain got worse).
I later confirmed from an internationally renowned andrologist that the surgery was unnecessary and that a varicocele doesn’t not lead to any pain.

I would recommend taking a second opinion from a well respected andrologist rather than a urologist.

best,
Pratik

 

Thanks for advice. The same said the surgeon on the surgery center where my friend was operated tho.

 

I asked my friend what was the grade of varicocele and the surgery was done in order to treat the quality of his sperm. He is fully healthy тщц and his personal life has improved a lot. He told me that he was very happy with how the operation went and how the medical staff and doctors treated him. They were all very polite and friendly. He had an operation in a very modern surgery center where all the equipment and devices were new and he liked everything there. When he came at consultation they explained everything about how the process and recovery. Here is the link if anyone is interested in seattleplasticsurgery.com .

 

Ah then that’s perfectly fine