Hi, day 1 here.

[delshein86]

Hello. So here is my story.
I am a 34 year old man.
as a kid I was really into sports and especially basketball.
when I was 18, they found 2 bulging discs on my lower back (the infamous L4-L5, L5-S1).
around that time the pain was terrible. I could barely walk or sit.
I tried nearly everything you could think of, but what helped me most is going to my chiropractor.
nowdays the pain is much better for me, but, I avoid doing sports I used to do like basketball , running, weight lifting etc..
the few times I did try to play basketball my back hurt.

I have recently read Sarno's "healing back pain" and thought why not give that a try, but I am afraid that my pain is not really TMS induced and if I do try the physical activities I want to do, I end up hurting my back even more.

so I guess I just wanted to share my story and ask : how can you know for sure that the pain is TMS ? what if I am wrong? and I end up messing my back even more in the process?

 

[Andy Bayliss]

Hi delshein86,

Probably the best you can do ---and this is important, is to build up your own supporting evidence for your self-diagnosis of TMS. You're best doing this by reading Dr. Sarno's work, reading and exploring the resources and success stories here and at the Wiki, looking for known patterns in TMS which you may also have.

In this process of TMS work, it is important to be fairly sure you have TMS. This is so that you don't incorrectly treat symptoms, and so that you can support your confidence in the diagnosis. Confidence means less fear and more understanding, and more willingness to pursue a TMS approach without giving up. Confidence grows with experimentation, reading, stretching your physical limits over time.

Here are some items you can check for yourself:
--

the infamous L4-L5, L5-S1)

You understand it is infamous. So that means many have been diagnosed, been in pain, and it was not physical.

---any physician or medical person ever suggested that this was "stress related?"

--what was going on in your life when this symptom started?

--do you have history of other known mind-body symptoms, now or in childhood

--if you were to exercise, are you really sure it could hurt something? Is this medically true?

--do you have a personality type recognized as TMS-prone?

There are others you can glean from reading and researching.

Each person must make this journey into the unknown, building in confidence as they embark and continue.

Good luck in this, and see the Structured Education Program, the Pain Recovery Program etc at the Wiki to engage in this process at no cost. Also, we're here to answer questions!

Andy