Dr. Sarno's Pressure Points

[lucaspjones]

Hi guys, I'm a 23-year-old male who suffers from RSI/tendonitis in both hands, as well as sciatica in the legs and tingling in the hands.

I'm currently about a week into accepting the TMS diagnosis, but I need some help just to get over the last few hurdles.

1) I was wondering about Sarno's "pressure points" - does everyone feel soreness in the areas he identifies, e.g. top of the shoulders? Is it possible to self-stimulate this soreness, and has there been any more research done since Sarno's original studies?

2) Is it possible to have physical changes due to TMS? For example, if there was genuine inflammation around the tendons in my hands, would this rule out TMS?

3) Is it possible to experience TMS symptoms in multiple body parts at the same time? For example, nerve pain in both of my hands as well as my legs all at once?

Some answers to these questions would really help me accept the diagnosis and boost my recovery! Thanks

 

[Baseball65]

1) I was wondering about Sarno's "pressure points" - does everyone feel soreness in the areas he identifies, e.g. top of the shoulders? Is it possible to self-stimulate this soreness, and has there been any more research done since Sarno's original studies?

No. I remember reading that in the book and thinking/obsessing "Oh shit... I am missing one of these. I might have something else". I believe by the end of his career he had dropped this as diagnostic criteria. I did NOT have all of them and I definitely had TMS

2) Is it possible to have physical changes due to TMS? For example, if there was genuine inflammation around the tendons in my hands, would this rule out TMS?

Yes... My knee swelled up when I had TMS in my knee area and the pain left before the inflammation/swelling... in fact , I never checked again, because once the pain is gone "I don't care what it looks like"

3) Is it possible to experience TMS symptoms in multiple body parts at the same time? For example, nerve pain in both of my hands as well as my legs all at once?

Absolutely. I have had simultaneous Sciatica in both legs and an arm, Shoulder and knee issues and also 'trading off'...e.g. My knee is bugging me until I really get hit with a pitch and now I am fixated on the bruise in my ribcage....just other ways to distract us and try and keep our attention strongly focused on the body

 

[lucaspjones]

Thank you so much, you've really encouraged me there

 

[TG957]

Thank you so much, you've really encouraged me there

I can only concur with what @Baseball65 posted. I had swelling, nerve pain, skin color changes in my hands. I also had indisputable EMG test showing nerve degradation. I had pain in arms, shoulders, feet, ankles etc. I also had RSI diagnosis, which, as I understand now, was just recognition by my doctors that they had no clue what to do with my symptoms. All was TMS, and I am alive and perfectly well now.

Also, I am not a doctor, but for a 23-year old to have sciatica without a precipitating injury - sounds very unlikely. I used to have sciatica pain, too. It is also long gone.

 

[lucaspjones]

Yes, all my nerve pain went down as "symptoms unexplained" after EMGs/MRIs. My sciatica was always strange to me as it could be excruciating at times, but when I went for a walk or lied on my side it disappeared - sounds like conditioning?

My nerve pain has decreased dramatically since I accepted that the basis was psychological, so that's good news.

My RSI/tendon pain is what's bugging me at the moment. It hasn't been genuinely painful for a while, so that's good. But there is always this dull ache around the tendons in both of my hands, which annoys me because all I want to do is get back to my job on the computer. If it was a genuine RSI then computer work would make it worse, so that scares me. But my RSI in my right hand has been present for 4 months, and despite numerous strengthening exercises won't go away - that seems too long for a real strain injury.

The tendon ache is the last hurdle in my recovery, but I'm finding it the most difficult to get over.

Thank you both for your advice though, it's nice to have people looking out for others in this weird world.

 

[TG957]

Yes, all my nerve pain went down as "symptoms unexplained" after EMGs/MRIs. My sciatica was always strange to me as it could be excruciating at times, but when I went for a walk or lied on my side it disappeared - sounds like conditioning?

My nerve pain has decreased dramatically since I accepted that the basis was psychological, so that's good news.

My RSI/tendon pain is what's bugging me at the moment. It hasn't been genuinely painful for a while, so that's good. But there is always this dull ache around the tendons in both of my hands, which annoys me because all I want to do is get back to my job on the computer. If it was a genuine RSI then computer work would make it worse, so that scares me. But my RSI in my right hand has been present for 4 months, and despite numerous strengthening exercises won't go away - that seems too long for a real strain injury.

The tendon ache is the last hurdle in my recovery, but I'm finding it the most difficult to get over.

Thank you both for your advice though, it's nice to have people looking out for others in this weird world.

Be patient. It took me almost 2 years to heal, but mine was extreme case.