Inattentive Neurologist Leaves Lingering Doubt

[BruceMC]

"hypermobile people"

Exactly how many people are afflicted with this "condition" or "syndrome"? Is is real or is it a catch-all diagnosis made up by the medical community based on a check sheet of symptoms with no preexisting pathological causes? In other words, does it exist at all outside the medical lexicon or is it a semantic pocket to place "hard cases" in?

Some people are more flexible than other. So what?

I'm no M.D. of course, but that left side involvement sounds highly suspicious, like the real reason for the pain on your left side is caused by something psychological or emotional that's affecting the neurochemistry of pain pathways in your brain. That is, unless you've been thoroughly check out by a traditional M.D. who found some problem with your autoimmune system.

In the meanwhile, I'd be very wary of terms like "hypermobile people".

 

[Miss Metta]

Metta,

Thanks for this. I used to dance with a girl who was hypermobile. She used to execute the most amazing backbends with an ease that was breathtaking. I've wondered about her since and how she fares.

Yeah, I can do that, too. And the splits. Without practice. At age 50. We can be such show offs!

I also appreciate the insight into flippers. I decided not to get them for my partner because one of the swimmers told me they work the legs a lot and it would probably be too much for him. Factoring in your thoughts makes me think I made the right choice. This and the fact that he is the only person I've seen sink while using a float...

Plum x

LOL! What is he using for a float?!

Yes, flippers do work the legs more, which is why people use them. But the issue with them is that if you get the wrong sort, (for you) or you go in doing too much too soon, then they can cause injury, strain.
Yes, I agree with the overall TMS dictum: our backs are strong. Our bodies are strong. We can lift and bend and stretch as needed. I'm of the opinion though that if we were meant to swim with flippers, we would all have been born as otters or platypus; not with primate feet, designed for terra firma work with the ocasional paddle in water. Put a heavy load on a donkey repeatedly and eventually it will suffer physical problems. The donkey's body may be able to tolerate the weight for a period of time, but eventually the body will injure and suffer under the load. I don't think the donkey is suffering rage at the injustice or has issues with abandonment during its foal-hood. The donkey has been saddled (pardon the pun) with a load that, whilst it can carry it, isn't really designed to.
Similiarly, Whilst we can use them, they are a weighty artifice and were never really very helpful in hunting buffalo on the plains. Hence, also no pictures of flippers found in Lascaux's cave paintings.

And so they have a tendency to cause greater than usual injury rates. However, I would add that if once one stops using the flippers and the injury hasn't improved over a few months, then you are possibly looking at TMS.

Pity about flippers, because I love the sound of the aquatic ape hypothesis:
http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Aquatic_ape_hypothesis (Aquatic ape hypothesis - RationalWiki)

 

[Miss Metta]

Thank you, Plum.
Your supportive and comforting spirit has been with me ever since you first wrote me, helped me muster the courage to forge ahead, and so I know that I am not alone, even though I am isolated. And so I plunge deep into the icy waters of a painful history and the pangs of a sad present, knowing and trusting that I can - I will - come to a better place and that I will take care of that small, scared child within and find my place in the world. Bless you, too.
Metta x

 

[plum]

Yes, I agree with the overall TMS dictum: our backs are strong. Our bodies are strong. We can lift and bend and stretch as needed. I'm of the opinion though that if we were meant to swim with flippers, we would all have been born as otters or platypus; not with primate feet, designed for terra firma work with the ocasional paddle in water. Put a heavy load on a donkey repeatedly and eventually it will suffer physical problems. The donkey's body may be able to tolerate the weight for a period of time, but eventually the body will injure and suffer under the load. I don't think the donkey is suffering rage at the injustice or has issues with abandonment during its foal-hood. The donkey has been saddled (pardon the pun) with a load that, whilst it can carry it, isn't really designed to.

Exactly!
You've perfectly described the difference between stress and tms, and this is incredibly important because it can derail healing. (I wrote a bit about this here: Stress headaches)

Once we are clear on these essential differences we can truly begin to heal because we are dealing with what is actually true for us as opposed to sifting through confusions and concepts as defined by well-intentioned others.

 

[BruceMC]

But I don't think that overloading a donkey with 500 lbs and pushing it to its breaking point in the hot sun is analogous to wearing swim flippers. Exactly what percentage of scuba divers suffer left-leg pain from wearing swim fins (that is, after the initial soreness wears off)? It's the exceptional nature of TMS complaints that tip you off to their mental/emotional origins. But of course after being programmed, it's really hard to unlearn those pain habits.

 

[Tennis Tom]

I've been swimming at the same pool for 36 years, there are hundreds of members, about half of them use fins, and I've never heard anyone mention that they hurt themselves using fins.