exercises that have helped

[blackdog]

Hello,

Is it OK to do PT exercises that have been prescribed in the past to relieve pain in order to keep muscle balance while doing a new exercise that focuses heavily on the opposing muscles (this happens because while the old exercises focused on the buttocks and outer thigh, I have been doing the Trauma Release Exercises by David Bercelli that seem to require a lot of use of the inner thighs)? I am concerned that over utilizing the inner thighs while doing TRE could lead to some issues if I don't keep the outer muscles strong at the same time. It is confounded a bit by my still having pain which the original exercises will probably help to relieve. I know this is probably too "in my head," but hopefully this makes sense. Thank you,

Andrew

 

[Walt Oleksy (RIP 2021)]

Steve Ozanich, one of the leading authors of TMS healing books, The Great Pain Deception,
encourages physical activity despite any pain, and Dr. Sarno says you can't hurt yourself by exercising.

But both say that PT or any exercise should not be done intending that it will cure pain.
Exercise just for good health.

You seem to be fixed on what exercises will do for various muscles or other parts of the body.
Your question of whether you are over utilizing the inner thighs while doing TRE
is beyond the scope of what I know about TMS. If no one else has given you the answer,
maybe you should ask a sports medicine doctor.

Worrying about what different exercises are doing to parts of your body seems to me that you are
right, that you are "probably too in your head" about this. Try just to enjoy the PT and not
associate it with healing from pain. Good luck.

 

[blackdog]

Thank you Walt. I guess that I am at the point that many people start from where it seems to me that I intellectually believe in TMS, I believe that I am a prototype personality for TMS and the whole theory fits into my deeper belief systems about the nature of life very well. And yet I still know that at my gut level I doubt the diagnosis in regards to my pain. I wish that were not so hard, but I understand Alan Gordon's video in which he states that believing in TMS is asking someone to believe something illogical. That work is required to get there for a lot of people. So, doing PT exercises (not actually seeing a PT, I'm done with that, but just the few exercises that actually helped) to relieve pain is a conundrum. I have a lot of anxiety (panic attacks, obsessional and the like) and, of course, more pain just sets me up for more anxiety. So, I want to use the exercises to allow me to get through this and increase exercise until I actually have the belief I need (I still feel pretty fragile). On the other hand, using them may make it harder to get that belief. But I know that right now I don't really have the belief, because I don't have the evidence built up. I'm sure there has been discussion in the forum about this. I would really like to hear some more about what people think about this. Thank you,

Andrew

 

[camera]

I used to do TRE myself and found that they cleared up my psychological and fatigue issues. They're supposed to help break you out of the trauma/freeze response. They did help that for me, but I got tired of having to do them all the time. I didn't know that people did TRE for pain.

When you say that the pain sets you up for more anxiety, my automatic thought is, "This guy needs to learn some relaxation/stress relief techniques." Have you tried mindfulness meditation or breathing techniques to relax you or anything else like that? You might want to take a look at the book Full Catastrophe Living if you haven't already. It's about mindfulness and illness. There's some other good books on mindfulness, but that one's pretty popular.

I don't know whether doing TRE would be harmful or not. I personally don't really think so. I feel like anything that helps you get better by relaxing your nervous system, in the long run, will help program your body to stay in the relaxed mode. I don't know if that makes sense, but some people overcome anxiety simply by consciously training their body to relax in situations in which they would normally be anxious or stressed. Just my thoughts.

 

[blackdog]

Thanks Camera,

As far as I understand TMS to this point, it would not be unusual for someone to become anxious when a new pain is introduced, as really that is the foundation by which TMS exists. In my case perhaps it is stronger due to the existence of what is likely an anxiety disorder, but that is probably not terribly unusual among TMS patients either, from what I understand. I have been working hard at this by meditating usually at least twice a day (I have read and use Zinn's materials) and doing TRE. Still a lot of anxiety over symptoms and especially new ones, though. It's a work in progress. Catastrophizing is still very difficult for me not to do. It's only been a month or two and I feel that the benefits of these practices, while already showing themselves, often take longer for greater effects to be seen. I have not been using TRE for pain relief, but for psychological release, though I have heard people say that it helped with their pain. I do not know, however, whether they were TMS patients, but I be inclined to say not.

Andrew

 

[camera]

It can definitely be pretty. I'm not sure how people deal with anxiety. I feel that everyone has to find their own way. I feel that a lot of my own anxiety just dissipated on its own when certain things just clicked in my mind. On some level, I feel like my mind learned to let go at some point, although I still do have some anxiety. I'm better than I was before though. I was a mess! Good luck. Try not to worry about worrying if you can help it.