MusicLover
Newcomer
New to the Forum and glad to be here ...
I discovered Dr. Sarno's work a couple of years ago and it's helped me immensely. For years I've suffered with everything from sciatica to neck pain, and I have no doubt that much of it is due to TMS.
The problem is that I can't distinguish which day-to-day "ailments" are from TMS, and which are simply structural or age-related.
I'm a 52-year-old male and healthy overall -- now. But I have beaten cancer twice (lymphoma in 1994 and spine tumors in 2014). I've had two invasive spinal cord surgeries, surgery for a broken arm, colon surgery (to remove pre-cancerous polyp), and I'm currently working with a specialized dentist to help get my TMJ fixed (yes, my TMJ is mostly a structural problem due to botched orthodontics years ago and a tooth extraction last year).
So I've had a lot of things thrown at my body over the years, including the surgeries, chemotherapy, anesthesia, scans, medicines. These things are all physical, not psychological, and I know they have resulted in my physical body being at least somewhat compromised.
But what about my still-continuing chronic neck and upper back pain? And intermittent sciatica? I know at least some of this isn't structural, because I have the classic TMS profile (buried rage about my parents -- which I'm trying to work through, people pleasing, dysfunctional childhood, perfectionist tendencies, worry about career, etc.).
The most interesting thing I've noticed this year is that when I go to the gym to work out (almost daily) -- or out to a restaurant -- the neck and back pain goes away, the sciatica goes away, all tension goes away -- nothing hurts at all. Even the TMJ gets better.
Then when I'm back home (and especially at night while trying to sleep) -- the maladies try to roar back.
Anyone else have trouble figuring out what's truly TMS and what's actually a structural issue? And, how do you work through it?
I discovered Dr. Sarno's work a couple of years ago and it's helped me immensely. For years I've suffered with everything from sciatica to neck pain, and I have no doubt that much of it is due to TMS.
The problem is that I can't distinguish which day-to-day "ailments" are from TMS, and which are simply structural or age-related.
I'm a 52-year-old male and healthy overall -- now. But I have beaten cancer twice (lymphoma in 1994 and spine tumors in 2014). I've had two invasive spinal cord surgeries, surgery for a broken arm, colon surgery (to remove pre-cancerous polyp), and I'm currently working with a specialized dentist to help get my TMJ fixed (yes, my TMJ is mostly a structural problem due to botched orthodontics years ago and a tooth extraction last year).
So I've had a lot of things thrown at my body over the years, including the surgeries, chemotherapy, anesthesia, scans, medicines. These things are all physical, not psychological, and I know they have resulted in my physical body being at least somewhat compromised.
But what about my still-continuing chronic neck and upper back pain? And intermittent sciatica? I know at least some of this isn't structural, because I have the classic TMS profile (buried rage about my parents -- which I'm trying to work through, people pleasing, dysfunctional childhood, perfectionist tendencies, worry about career, etc.).
The most interesting thing I've noticed this year is that when I go to the gym to work out (almost daily) -- or out to a restaurant -- the neck and back pain goes away, the sciatica goes away, all tension goes away -- nothing hurts at all. Even the TMJ gets better.
Then when I'm back home (and especially at night while trying to sleep) -- the maladies try to roar back.
Anyone else have trouble figuring out what's truly TMS and what's actually a structural issue? And, how do you work through it?
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