hip flexor pain.. now what

D

deborah24/7

New Member
hello

Iv'e not posted a thread before.... I'm more of a skulker of this site :)
I am currently however seeking some encouragement in the face of a big back flip ( pardon the pun)
of my TMS pain.
It's been about a year and a half of knowing about tms and implimenting the concepts into my life... I've had great success on and off, Have managed to maintain it to 95% healed most of the time.. the odd few days of OMG I'm cured!! only to not trust that and back come a few twinges to keep me on edge....

In hindsight I can see I clearly wasn't ready to trust EVERYTHING... I still had thoughts like well I'm feeling so good I won't garden today in case it ruins it!!! and better stick to swimming because I know thats ok.... so yeah as I write that I can see some doubt...

I was at the point though of not being on tms wilki just going along with Caulfields idea of just enjoy life... This is easy enough to do when the pain is levelled out or barely there... SO hard to do when the smallest movement sends searing stabs down your legs etc......... and that's where I am right now..... :(

4 weeks ago after one of my OMG I'm so cured days I felt a sharp twinge in my left hip/groin and I ignored it,, went to the pictures but it didn't go away and by the next day I couldn't bend!! Over the next 4 weeks the pain has moved from left to right, from abdomen to flank to groin to thigh to lower back, a good day a bad day all the while I just got on with it thinking it will dissipate.........

It didn't.. It feels like it is my hip flexors as I literally can't lift my left leg it hurts so much in the groin and up my flank...... anyway today its all on the left and last Saturday the pain was SO intense on my RIGHT that I ended up in an ambulance in ER because I couldn't walk!!!!

THAT right there was my worst fear realised..... I had had one of those attacks once before many years ago and have lived in fear of it happening again,,, I used to say to my tms... throw whatever you want at me because nothing can be scarier than crawling on your knees in public!!! and it has ... thrown my worst fear at me............ now what............

I feel more scared because it CAN happen again................
There was no good reason........... nothing OBVIOUS......... except fear........

Anyway What's my point... I'm not sure..... The whole hip flexor thing is weird as Im not a runner... they are not over used... but the pain is excruciating............. ( I had x rays all good)

On paper it clearly is tms but I can't just get on with it because it really really hurts and resting makes it just as bad............. How do I get out of this loop???

It is so disheartening as it feels lke Im back to the beginning and then some............

Steve says it only feels that way if I perceive it that way and I GET that but it's hard NOT to when you're incapacitated..................

any thoughts appreciated............. deborah
 
deborah24/7 said:
On paper it clearly is tms but I can't just get on with it because it really really hurts and resting makes it just as bad............. How do I get out of this loop???
Click to expand...
I'm in a similar situation atm - suffering with 'symptom imperative'...This time it's with severe pain in my left ankle and foot; I'm hobbling around trying to do things and it's excruciating. At other times the 'symptom imperative' has had me incapacitated badly in other ways, e.g. I've been bedridden on several occasions due to muscle spasms in my right sacro-iliac area, which wrench and torque my pelvis out of line, making it nigh on impossible to weight-bear/walk without absolutely horrendous pain (because directly after the muscles have spasmed they set like concrete). I also understand what it's like with regard to resting also being problematic, as with a lot of resting my muscles get very stiff and hurt (I was diagnosed with so called 'Fibromyalgia Syndrome' and suffer with wide-spread muscle pain and stiffness)...And with the stiffness, not only do my muscles hurt, they are liable to then spasm - a vicious circle :(.

All I can suggest is trying what I've now decided to do: I'm alternating rest with moving around a bit when/if I can and, when I'm resting, I alternate doing reading, journaling and meditation with regularly visualizing myself moving/exercising - the latter in order to still 'challenge' the TMS pain. Research has shown that visualizing/imagining movement (in your mind's eye) is almost as good as actually doing the movements with regard to muscle strength and stopping/reducing muscle atrophy; here's just a short article about it (but there are others that go into more detail on the Internet) https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2887151/Scientists-discover-just-IMAGINING-exercising-make-stronger-tone-muscles-delay-stop-muscle-atrophy.html (Scientists discover just IMAGINING exercising can make you stronger | Daily Mail Online). I'm hopeful that it will be the answer. (If it's not, then I don't know what else to do.)
 
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Go to the feeling of "OMG, I'm so cured!" Remember that emotion and feel it, again. Let it move through you. Your brain will remember it.
Remember that you were delighted that the TMS approach worked.

Don't go over the details of what you think you did wrong.
Only remember that it was only fear holding it all in place to begin. This can be undone.
All of the "what if's" is keeping your brain on the constant search for creating pain.

Check your breathing. Is it shallow? Visualize being in a hammock by the sea and breathe in as deeply as you would with fresh air and a warm breeze.

best,
Marcia
 
Hi Deborah24/7,

I hope you've figured out how to get a handle on this problem since you posted this over a year ago. However, if not I would like to share my experience with this problem and what I did to get real relief from the pain in this area.

First off, you don't have to be a runner to develop pain this area. A lot of times just sitting down for too long each day can cause pain and discomfort in your hip flexors. Remaining in a seated position on a daily basis causes the muscles that make up the hip flexor to shorten up and cause painful symptoms.

This was the cause of the hip flexor pain in my case. So what I did that really helped give me some long lasting relief was do a few simple stretches each day and they started to help reduce the pain I was experiencing. Now whenever I start feeling the hip flexor pain returning I'll just do more of these stretches and I'm back to normal. You can find a bunch of great stretches that work the hip flexor muscles and reduce pain over at https://hipflexorsinfo.com/tight-hip-flexors-stretches/ (Tight Hip Flexors Stretches - Exercises for Pain Relief and to Loosen Hips). However, 2 of the main stretches that I use daily to prevent hip flexor pain are lunges and the standing hip hinge.

Once again I hope you were able to find a way to get relief from the pain, because I know how terrible it is to have to deal with it day in and day out. If you're still dealing with this pain in your hips do a google search for "hip flexor stretches" and give a few of them a try each day until you find what works for you.

Best Regards,
Josh
 
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