Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
Hi. How are you now with the seb dermatitis? Do the TMS work helped you heal this condition? Thanks youI'm not usually the type to write on forums or even post anything on the internet so I suppose the fact that I am now shows my level of desperation. I found Dr. Sarno's book Healing Back Pain my sophomore year of college when doctor after doctor told me I had a herniated disc/stenosis/spondy and basically that I would never be 100% again. One doctor told me the military wouldn't even accept me if they saw my MRI. I refused to accept this. And so I read the book, bought into the message (had no choice), and I went into the weight room the next day and deadlifted the type of weight I would if nothing was wrong. My back has been absolutely perfect since, no sciatica, no pain, no nothing.
So the issue is that even though it worked for my back, I'm having a lot of trouble with fixing my skin. I have a horrible rash on my face/forehead. It may have started as eczema, then thought it was rosacea because it was just redness broken capillaries on my cheeks, and then it emerged into something called seborrhea which is a type of dermatitis I believe. Anyway it progressively got worse throughout my sophomore year of college. And now it's pretty damn bad, flares up real easily, sweat and heat aggrevate it so I'm definitely living in constant fear which I know is what Sarno warns about. I also stopped doing certain activities that I like because of it, I stopped working out because it would flare with the sweat, skip parties, didn't swim much this summer, water aggrevates so Showering sucks also, I lay low in class, hide my face, incredibly less outgoing when it's real bad. So you could say it controls my life in many ways.
I found it was much easier for me to nut up and deadlift and say fuck the pain than it is to say fuck it if my skin is red. I just transferred to a larger university, I'm meeting new people, joining new groups, if I say screw it and start doing my usual thing like working out and acting like its not there, my face could very well reach a whole new level of bad and that'll be a bit too much for me to handle in a situation like college. So i guess I'm writing this because I'm asking how other people have overcome skin issues or any tms (equivalents) that have had a special type of hold on them. Dr. Sarno goes into depth on how tms works but he lists skin problems as tms equivalents and doesn't explain what happens in the body to make my Seb Derm occur. I've always had skin problems for as long as I can remember and it's just been a real good way my mind has protected me from my repressed emotions I guess because the unsightliness affects me so much and garners so much of my attention. So any tips about how I could maybe beat this without making it way worse first would be great, success stories are welcome(bought Steve O's book just to read like a sentence about him beating Rosacea), and any possible explanation on how the mind would have my skin react in such a way would help too (immune system I think?). If you read this far, thank you very much for the time!
* I should add that when I'm less stressed my skin gets better, was semi decent the whole week before I left for school and within a day of being here it got real bad. I literally felt it coming on, I was trying to tell it no but my fear of it coming on was just too great.
This is an incredibly relatable post. I’ve experienced, for years now, almost exactly what the original poster has described.
I overcame debilitating back pain about 10 years ago. I am 100% on board with the diagnosis of TMS.
But for the last few years I have been dealing with an increase in my skin issues. Sebbhoric dermatitis, eczema, psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, etc. You name it I’ve battled it. It is an absolute nightmare. What’s worse, over the last several months, I’ve had the dermatitis spread to my face.
I think, as many posters in this thread have mentioned, the fact that these conditions make one *so* self-conscious about their looks makes this a devastatingly effective distraction from one’s emotions. How can you just ignore or downplay burning, red, itchy, dry skin on your face? It’s literally impossible.
I’ve dealt with TMS in the form of severe pain and, in my opinion, these skin equivalents are 100x worse.
If anyone could give me some advice or at least share their stories, I’d be really grateful. Especially some of these old posters in this thread.
I too developed seb dermatitis from all the extreme and constant stress of having scalp and head nerve pain for 16 months...I don't go out unless I have to go to the doctor because the nerve pain is excruciating in response to the slightest touch and temp. So washing my face and hair and brushing my teeth even lying my head on the pillow hurts. For my seb der. I found Verdesa to help alot with the burning and redness but now nothing does...it does get wore with stress. I also have it on my scalp so it burns and is sore on top of the nerve pain I already have.
I use Aveeno ultra calming night Cream becaue it brings some moisture back to the face. I use Cetaphil face wash which is supposed to be very mild. It seem like when the stress us under control so is the seb dermatitis.. there r other creams the dermatologist has but I found they dred my skin...biotin is a good vitamin for skin and I figure drinking alot of water helps..I go to a 2nd dermatologist next week so if he suggests something helpful I will post it. Hang in there.