I am seeking an expert TMS consultant's advice regarding the muscle nodules in my back.

achen

achen

New Member
I'm a 27-year-old male named Achen. I used to work in finance and stock trading. For the past three years, I've been suffering from chronic shoulder and lower back pain. Last August, after an MRI, the doctor said my cervical lordosis was very bad, which made me highly vigilant. Since then, I've been doing cervical exercises and swimming frequently. However, during one swimming session, I caught a cold and had a fever due to getting chilled. After that, I developed severe lower back and back pain. Despite numerous hospital visits and tests, doctors found no significant issues. But my problems kept increasing: back pain, high heart rate, shortness of breath, and later, vision fatigue and anxiety symptoms. After a year of seeking treatment, a chief physician diagnosed me with "myofasciitis," a condition where the back muscles become hardened and nodular. The doctor believed that these lesions were the cause of my pain and complex symptoms. Since then, I've been to many doctors and received multiple needle-knife treatments, but none of them worked and some even worsened my condition. I'm now desperately wondering if the muscle nodules in my back are also typical symptoms of TMS. Have other members who have experienced TMS back pain had similar back issues?

The chiropractor who came to my house diagnosed that the muscles in my back were stiff and in a knotted state. Is this related to TMS? Or is it a specific structural problem?
The differences between myofascial inflammation and TMS back pain,how to distinguish
 
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Muscles knots, muscle tension “myofascial inflammation” are all hallmarks of TMS. It’s a common misconception that if you have a physical, anatomical or physiological change it isn’t TMS. The brain in perpetual fight or flight, the TMS brain is fully capable of creating muscle tension and the resulting pain. I have muscle knots throughout my cheek muscles (what the medical community refers to as TMJ), as well as some in my upper back/neck

https://www.tmswiki.org/ppd/Structured_Educational_Program

evidence logs are so so Important. Does the pain shift or move, does it lessen when you’re doing something or out of the house, does it worsen when stressed Do baths help, do you not notice it when you first wake up, does the weather affect it? Etc. these are.

idk how much you are like me. But the absolute first step imo is to stop scanning your body, feeling the knots checking their size, firmness etc. I had a huge problem with my various symptoms of obsessively scanning my symptoms, trying to pinpoint the pain, all it did was make me neurotic, every symptom I’ve had gets better when I stop obsessively scanning for them. This is much easier said than done, especially in the early stage when we’re in the fear loop of thinking we’re broken and being terrified of the pain and what it means for the rest of our lives. You’ve been checked out by drs, they couldn’t help, a TMS/mindbody approach can definitely help you!

also I’m not an expert by any means so take what I say with a grain of salt and hopefully more experienced members will chime in.
 
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@achen, I'm a retired CPA, not a medical expert. I've just been doing this work for 14 years and keeping up with the advances in neuroscience over that time from a non-professional level of understanding - and it's obvious to me that you suffer from a tremendous amount of anxiety and obsessive behaviors. Look to that first.

When you address your anxiety and learn let go of obsessions, life is easier and symptoms are greatly reduced.

Given your age, I would recommend that you look to your upbringing to see where your anxiety and obsessions came from. It always goes back to childhood eventually, even for those of us with many decades of life experiences behind us.

Read a book by Dr John Sarno MD (you might as well start with Healing Back Pain).

For your anxiety, read Hope and Help for your Nerves by Claire Weekes.

A structured program can help you learn the concepts as you uncover the reasons you've ended up living like this. We have a free one called The Structured Educational Program on the main TMSWiki.org.

Good luck!
 
I've had very similar back issues. I'm not a medical professional, I'm just some random internet person who's experienced TMS.

I do not have the noddules (I stopped sensing anything like that long ago, as the symptoms moved about my body), have lower back sensations and other symptoms. For myself, it's all TMS.
@JanAtheCPA has offered you the best advice.

If you need a professional's advice, Dr. Schecter in Los Angeles and Dr. Shubiner near Chicago take consultations. There are a very few other TMS specialists who will consult about physical "structural" things around the world. Both of the above doctors will sometimes offer consultations over the internet for a consultation fee.
 
achen said:
The differences between myofascial inflammation and TMS back pain,how to distinguish
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It is the same thing based on my reading and witnessing limited others. Another random internet person no medical professional. Examine your job, your close relationships especially family/partners, what really pisses you off that you can't even think about.
 
Rabscuttle said:
Muscles knots, muscle tension “myofascial inflammation” are all hallmarks of TMS. It’s a common misconception that if you have a physical, anatomical or physiological change it isn’t TMS. The brain in perpetual fight or flight, the TMS brain is fully capable of creating muscle tension and the resulting pain. I have muscle knots throughout my cheek muscles (what the medical community refers to as TMJ), as well as some in my upper back/neck

https://www.tmswiki.org/ppd/Structured_Educational_Program

evidence logs are so so Important. Does the pain shift or move, does it lessen when you’re doing something or out of the house, does it worsen when stressed Do baths help, do you not notice it when you first wake up, does the weather affect it? Etc. these are.

idk how much you are like me. But the absolute first step imo is to stop scanning your body, feeling the knots checking their size, firmness etc. I had a huge problem with my various symptoms of obsessively scanning my symptoms, trying to pinpoint the pain, all it did was make me neurotic, every symptom I’ve had gets better when I stop obsessively scanning for them. This is much easier said than done, especially in the early stage when we’re in the fear loop of thinking we’re broken and being terrified of the pain and what it means for the rest of our lives. You’ve been checked out by drs, they couldn’t help, a TMS/mindbody approach can definitely help you!

also I’m not an expert by any means so take what I say with a grain of salt and hopefully more experienced members will chime in.
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Yes, my pain gets worse every rainy day. Besides, the masseur can find tender points on the nodules on my back. I wonder if your situation is similar to mine. I want to know if you have relieved your pain through TMS.
 
achen said:
Yes, my pain gets worse every rainy day. Besides, the masseur can find tender points on the nodules on my back. I wonder if your situation is similar to mine. I want to know if you have relieved your pain through TMS.
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yes I have relieved enough of my pain to get my life back. I resume full time in person work tomorrow. I can play sports again, essentially exercise how I want. I can talk and eat without fear that I am going to screw up my jaw ( a huge fear during those early TMj induced panics) I still have some pain, but the fear is essentially gone which is the main thing, I know in time the pain will fully go away. But I was able to lose the fear because I understood the reality of TMS that I wasn’t broken or screwed for life and that the more I panicked and obsessed the worse my situation got. I was in the darkest period of my life from September 24 through March, now I’m ready and trying to start building a life I deserve.

also if you go for a massage stop letting them tell you about your tender points, don’t let them tell you an area is tense or needs work. Just ask them to do the massage and not say anything about your body. All that stuff just adds to the fear.
 
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Rabscuttle said:
yes I have relieved enough of my pain to get my life back. I resume full time in person work tomorrow. I can play sports again, essentially exercise how I want. I can talk and eat without fear that I am going to screw up my jaw ( a huge fear during those early TMj induced panics) I still have some pain, but the fear is essentially gone which is the main thing, I know in time the pain will fully go away. But I was able to lose the fear because I understood the reality of TMS that I wasn’t broken or screwed for life and that the more I panicked and obsessed the worse my situation got. I was in the darkest period of my life from September 24 through March, now I’m ready and trying to start building a life I deserve.
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Can I understand that you also have myofascial nodules inflammation in your back and shoulders, but you have significantly alleviated it through TMS training?
 
achen said:
Can I understand that you also have myofascial nodules inflammation in your back and shoulders, but you have significantly alleviated it through TMS training?
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Most are in my jaw/cheek muscles, a few knots and tender points in my neck and upper back. Did I ever get a diagnosis of myofascial nodules? No. I’ve just been told such knots are abnormal. At the point I realized I had them I was no longer interested in pursing doctors for their diagnosis’ I recognized they don’t have the answer for me.

yes I’ve found relief.

You don’t need someone with your exact story or symptoms, you just need to start doing the work, then you acquire evidence then the rest takes care of itself.
 
Rabscuttle said:
Most are in my jaw/cheek muscles, a few knots and tender points in my neck and upper back. Did I ever get a diagnosis of myofascial nodules? No. I’ve just been told such knots are abnormal. At the point I realized I had them I was no longer interested in pursing doctors for their diagnosis’ I recognized they don’t have the answer for me.

yes I’ve found relief.

You don’t need someone with your exact story or symptoms, you just need to start doing the work, then you acquire evidence then the rest takes care of itself.
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What you mean by the action is whether it refers to conducting structured training? Sometimes I don't feel much pain, but it's not obvious. I can't be sure if it's because of TMS. However, every time the masseur massages my back for me, I can feel that the nodules are causing pain.
 
achen said:
What you mean by the action is whether it refers to conducting structured training? Sometimes I don't feel much pain, but it's not obvious. I can't be sure if it's because of TMS. However, every time the masseur massages my back for me, I can feel that the nodules are causing pain.
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I’m confused by your first statement. the fact that the pain waxes and wanes is a good sign it’s TMS. By action I mean the structured educational program that was linked above, or another persons plan such those in Sarno’s books or a different coach, frankly I don’t do much work these days, some meditation, occasionally some informal journalling, most of all I just try to live my life and not catastrophize over the symptoms, I try to smile at them, I talk myself up as much as I can, praise my resilient, self compassion etc.

Of course they’ll cause pain. Tender points are a well documented phenomenon in the TMS world and you’re still in the fear state so it’s natural that you’ll feel in specific areas. Honestly if I were you I would stop going for massages until you really accept the TMS label and can approach the massage from a place of compassion and not fixing.

https://www.schechtermd.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/TMS-Questionnaire-revised-05-2021.pdf
 
Rabscuttle said:
I’m confused by your first statement. the fact that the pain waxes and wanes is a good sign it’s TMS. By action I mean the structured educational program that was linked above, or another persons plan such those in Sarno’s books or a different coach, frankly I don’t do much work these days, some meditation, occasionally some informal journalling, most of all I just try to live my life and not catastrophize over the symptoms, I try to smile at them, I talk myself up as much as I can, praise my resilient, self compassion etc.

Of course they’ll cause pain. Tender points are a well documented phenomenon in the TMS world and you’re still in the fear state so it’s natural that you’ll feel in specific areas. Honestly if I were you I would stop going for massages until you really accept the TMS label and can approach the massage from a place of compassion and not fixing.

https://www.schechtermd.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/TMS-Questionnaire-revised-05-2021.pdf
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Thank you. I feel that I may not have gathered enough evidence to prove whether TMS is effective for me. These days, I have been reading many recovery stories of TMS patients, and each person's situation is different. Therefore, I am very interested in whether everyone also suffers from "muscle and tendon pain" and want to use this to confirm if I am similar to everyone else.
 
achen said:
Thank you. I feel that I may not have gathered enough evidence to prove whether TMS is effective for me. These days, I have been reading many recovery stories of TMS patients, and each person's situation is different. Therefore, I am very interested in whether everyone also suffers from "muscle and tendon pain" and want to use this to confirm if I am similar to everyone else.
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the TMS brain is always going to extend the goalposts. ‘No one has my exact situation so this won’t work for me’ ‘I can feel these knots so that means I’m physically broken and mind body work won’t help’. Be wary of these thoughts that try to make you feel like you’re an exception. This can work for you.

Even for those with genuine medical ailments that don’t fit under the TMS umbrella there is a lot to be gained by losing fear. Not catastrophizing and being kinder to ourselves. Our bodies don’t work well when we are super stressed, panicking not stop and beating the shit out of ourselves internally.
 
Rabscuttle said:
the TMS brain is always going to extend the goalposts. ‘No one has my exact situation so this won’t work for me’ ‘I can feel these knots so that means I’m physically broken and mind body work won’t help’. Be wary of these thoughts that try to make you feel like you’re an exception. This can work for you.

Even for those with genuine medical ailments that don’t fit under the TMS umbrella there is a lot to be gained by losing fear. Not catastrophizing and being kinder to ourselves. Our bodies don’t work well when we are super stressed, panicking not stop and beating the shit out of ourselves internally.
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I think what you said is quite correct. Because I have obvious symptoms of anxiety, such as tinnitus, brain fog, tightness in the back of my head, neck pain, and overactive sympathetic nerves. If I can use TMS to control these symptoms and reduce my fear, it will also benefit me a lot.
 
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