Day 1 Tarsal tunnel, back pain, hip pain, knee pain, sciatica, piriformis

Hi all,

I am here because ever since I ran the Boston Marathon in 2019, my life hasnt been the same.

After the marathon, I experienced bilateral burning sensations in the bottom of both feet. I notice that the burning is always there, but gets more intense during stressful periods of my life. Ever since 2019, I have been on a wild goose chase trying to find out why my feet wont stop burning. I recently got an NCV test done. The physiatrist said I have tarsal tunnel syndrome, although the EMG/NCV was normal. But my symptoms align to tarsal tunnel syndrome.

Aside from that, I have lower back pain, torn hip labrum, sciatica, and piriformis syndrome. I feel like whenever I workout, my body just gets injured. I feel fragile, even though I dont look it. I have done PT, seen all the "specialists" and just feel hopeless. I am too young to have all of these issues. On top of that, I have anxiety and depression, and I am constantly striving perfection. I am also perplexed by the concept of not being good enough. I feel like without running, and working out, I am not good enough. I miss the high I used to get from being an athlete. Life is just boring now. I am so confused, stressed, and scared of what the future holds.

I really do believe that TMS is what I have. I have loved Sarno's and Alan Gordons books. I just need some structure to help get me through this.

If anyone has experienced these pains, and had success through TMS journey, Id love to hear them.

Thank you for your support. God bless.

 

Hi,

- psychotherapy;
- daily meditation;
- working out but more like walking, QiGong, Pilates/Yoga outside in nature if possible;
- hiking in nature and observing the landscape, plants, animals etc. Take your time;
- breathing exercises for calming the mind;
- visualization techniques for calming the mind, increasing self-esteem, increasing courage;
- less stimuli (noise, coffee, alcohol, other addictions);
- cleaner diet, healthier, real food dense in nutrients;
- proper sleep (minimum 6-7 h/night);
- hobbies, volunteer work, growing a plant etc;
- proper supplements (fish oil);
- less social media;
- keep the mind clean during the day. Use positive affirmations.
etc.

Maybe others here will write some more, what worked for them.
Take care. God bless you too.
I'm a work in progress, under construction, working on these points also.

 

I can relate to a lot of how you're feeling. In March of 2022 I was in a really bad spot. I was running and working out and was in the best shape of my life. I ended up getting an annoyance in my hip after a 10 mile run and it just wouldn't go away - but why would it when my attention was always fixated on it. After a month or so I went to see my doctor and got an x-ray that ended up showing mild osteoarthritis. I went to PT once and had no pain during any movements and I had full mobility in the hip so they said to rest and sent me on my way. I had no idea what osteoarthritis was so after googling it I learned that there was nothing I could do and that it could one day lead to a hip replacement - I now use could lead to a hip replacement but back then all I knew was that I was going to get a hip replacement. I didn't know it then but I have some pretty serious health anxiety so that diagnosis helped me reach my tipping point - it had been building for years with random aches and pains in many places but I just powered through. One day I woke up and just felt different. I was full of worry and I couldn't stop thinking about my health. I'd no longer be a runner and my long hikes out west in the mountains would probably hurt me and no longer be enjoyable. I wouldn't be able to run along side my kids while they rode their bikes. My shoulder which I had surgery on years ago has always made a lot of popping and grinding noises but now it really got my attention and I thought that was next. With how it sounded, It had to be close to going bad. How could I be 34 and end up with a hip and shoulder replacement before 40! AHHHHHH! My body soon listened to my worry and soon everything started to hurt: elbows, shoulders, knees, both hips, feet, neck, back, and even a freaking testicle. In addition to the pain, several areas of my body would burn and then I got really tight and all of my joints started to snap and pop. It was really bad. I was like you, I felt fragile but I didn't look it, I never felt good enough, and exercise was my escape and way of feeling better.

Luckily I found Alan Gordon's podcast and learned about this stuff very early into my downward spiral. It was a small glimpse of hope I could hold on to - maybe my body wasn't really failing me. I think this program will do you a lot of good if you stick with it. It will help you get at your anxiety, depression, not feeling good enough, along with other things that are contributing to your pain that you're not yet aware of. Therapy with a chronic pain specialist did me a lot of good so that is something to consider as well - it really helped me see all the trauma I went through as a child and how those behaviors I learned back then served a good purpose but now they are no longer needed and can actually contribute to my pain/anxiety. There's lots of things you can try but you'll find what works best for you. For me, it was therapy, mediation, self compassion, and inner child work. The recovery may take some time so you'll learn to be patient - take it day by day and not let today shape your tomorrow. I'm still working on things and have random aches and pains I'm working through still but I'm much better than I was. As I said earlier, I went from thinking I'd never be a runner to having my best weekly mileage and finishing a half marathon a couple weekends ago. I'm just as active as I was back then but I'm enjoying it more now. All this work helped me see how I was using exercise as an escape from everything but I was still applying a lot of pressure on myself to get stronger and run more miles and be faster - that's not there any more, well most of the time, sometimes I still have to remind myself

Stick to the program and I think you'll see results. I can't promise you'll be completely healed but if you feel 20-30% better you'll be grateful for that and know you're on track. I'm just over a year into this and I still get some annoyances but it's nothing that has stopped me from living my life. I'm finding that this last 10% will be the hardest because it's working through all of the behaviors that have shaped me into who I am now and those won't change over night.

I wish you the best of luck in your recovery and I hope this site helps you see that you can get better.

 

Hi - thought I'd reply to help put your mind ant ease and get you started on your recovery. I've experienced and solved (more or less) nearly all the symptoms you write about. I had incessant burning in my right heel, sciatic on both sides that would come and go but was always severe when it did show up, supposed piriformis trigger point, an insanely stiff low back. All that stuff. And it's all 90% better. I just slowly started running again, basically. I know that sounds insane, believe me - I know how terrible the pain can be. But I just started running again, and then one day, about a week in, the pain in my ankles the day after the run was WAY less than it normally was. That alone was enough to convince my brain that it was TMS and it's been getting consistently better ever since. Just start slow, keep going and believe. Good luck.