Trying to determine if my issue is TMS related or not.

Hello All,

I had an snowboarding injury around 10 years ago where i landed on my shoulder from around 4 feet. Was unable to lift my shoulder for around 4 months before i was able to slowly get use out of it again. I never got it checked out by a Doctor or PT. Didn't bother me much and only had slight pain when lifting things. Then 5 years later i went through a very stressful period at work and started to feel shoulder and chest pains due to a lack of sleep. I thought i was having a heart attack due to the pins and needles in my left arm (Arm that i had injured). Everything checked out at the doctors, but the pain remained for a few years. I started to do the Ketogenic diet a few years after that all of my pain had gone away along with my stress, and bad sleep. I was able to lift fine without too much of an issue. I still felt pain when lifting (Although not alot), but my left arm was still almost as strong as my right. Then this past Dec i went through another stressful period and my ears started to ring one night. I developed neck pains and my shoulder pains seemed to come back. I went to a Doctor and everything looked ok and he recommended i start seeing a PT. The PT stated after a few tests that i seemed to have all of the classic signs of TOS (Thoracic Outlet Syndrome). My shoulder pain isn't as bad as what some others are experiencing, but it does inhibit from lifting any heavy weights without feeling uncomfortable. After seeing a post on reddit stating that i should look into Dr. Sarno, i did notice that feeling of soreness and pain has gone down somewhat after watching a few videos. Little confused as to what next steps i should take. This is mostly due to Dr Sarno observation that TOS does not seem to be an issue that is caused by a physical issue beyond having an extra Rib in the area or having a deformity due to an accident. Does my issue seem like it has all the hallmarks of a TMS issue?

 

Hi Rusty,

The fact that you've been checked out by a doc, and that TOS is currently a very popular diagnosis that in the experience of a lot of people here turns out to be TMS, would indicate that yes, you probably have TMS.

Mind you, we aren't medical professionals here, but if you will read some posts on our Success Stories subforum, I think you'll find a lot of corroboration for your self-diagnosis (and most of us did self-diagnose our TMS). And here's the thing you have to ask yourself: what can it possibly hurt, right now, for you to assume that it is TMS?

You don't have a dire diagnosis or prognosis demanding immediate medical intervention, so I would recommend making a small financial commitment to buy one of Dr. Sarno's books (or see if your library has his books - my first copy was an e-book download from my library). It's important to get the full picture of his journey and the development of his theories before you build on them as you do this work. My personal favorite is The Divided Mind, his last book, which has the advantage (IMO) of featuring five other MDs and a psychologist who subscribe to his mindbody theories. It wasn't long after the publication of TDM that Dr. Sarno himself started saying that his TMS acronym might as well refer to The Mindbody Syndrome rather than tension myositis syndrome, presumably because he could see that the relevance of the repression mechanism he theorized goes beyond his original myositis oxygen deprivation theory.

In any case - read one of his books, and start doing the free Structured Educational Program on our site. That's right, it's free, put together by this site's founder and some other early volunteers on the wiki and forum. As you continue to explore our resources, you will come across references to Alan Gordon's Pain Recovery Program (generously donated by Alan), which is a more sophisticated and less structured educational program, which you can do instead of, or in conjunction with, the SEP.

All of this costs almost nothing except for some time, AND a serious commitment to doing the work with honesty and consistency. What's the payoff for all of us? The more people who learn about, experience, and eventually advocate for a mindbody approach to our physical wellbeing, the more hope there is that we can help change the current completely dysfunctional medical system!

Good luck!