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Inflexibility caused by Tms . Why does it happen and how do I deal with it

G

GokuGn

New Member
My hamstrings have become so tight that I cannot bend down without bending my legs at the knees. I've worked with countless physios but still it did not improve . Recently I've discovered that TMS also causes inflexibility. So I want to know how do I work on it so that I can restore my flexibility?

And to add to that . I also have been dealing with back pain and alternating tingling sensations down my leg inspite of no medical diagnosis which makes it sure I only have TMS and nothing else
 
In my case, I know that most of my inflexibility comes from TMS. The few times I’ve been almost or even completely free of symptoms, my flexibility improved by about 80-90% as well. So if everything else has been ruled out, I think it’s important to start thinking psychologically rather than physically - asking yourself, “Why does my brain think it needs to lock up my body like this?”.
You need to work on it like you would work on any other symptom.

TMS makes me stiff like I have arthritis all over my body.
 
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I am pretty certain it is related. I had barely been able to move my left shoulder. My right shoulder is fine. I have been dealing with TMS for years without knowing what it was. Now that I know and have been working on it, I am gaining some more free rotation in my shoulder. Though there is still pain, I can feel the mobility starting to return. I have been trying to move and stretch my shoulder even though there is pain. I figure I am sending signals to my brain that yes, you can move this shoulder without chronic tightness. It seems to be working.
 
monica-tms said:
In my case, I know that most of my inflexibility comes from TMS. The few times I’ve been almost or even completely free of symptoms, my flexibility improved by about 80-90% as well. So if everything else has been ruled out, I think it’s important to start thinking psychologically rather than physically - asking yourself, “Why does my brain think it needs to lock up my body like this?”.
You need to work on it like you would work on any other symptom.

TMS makes me stiff like I have arthritis all over my body.
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But how do I do that ? Do I stretch them more , load what exactly am I supposed to do beacuse I couldn't find the information anywhere
 
GokuGn said:
But how do I do that ? Do I stretch them more , load what exactly am I supposed to do beacuse I couldn't find the information anywhere
Click to expand...
Stretching them more reflects a physical way of thinking. You need to remind yourself that there’s nothing physically wrong with you. By telling your brain that something needs to be fixed, you’re feeding it misinformation.

Instead, focus on working through the emotional aspects and addressing any conditioned responses. Have you tried looking into the SEP program? It’s free on this website, and I’ve heard it’s really good to start out with.
 
Yoga helped a lot for my inflexibility, but it’s important to not approach it as the sole solution. Yoga is also great for the mindfulness aspect, I think doing it in a studio with other people is more ideal than alone in your home but there are plenty of great videos on YouTube. Yes the underlying issue is rooted in the emotions and stress and tension but we have to recognize if we’ve started fearing movement and not been exercising our body is going to get stuck in a loop of tensing up and fearing movement. Exercise is a constant reminder that we aren’t broken and also tells the scared brain that we aren’t letting it dictate our lives.

I’m not where I want to be regarding flexibility by I’m so much better. Yes mine is almost entirely rooted in TMS, but I also spent a decade avoiding certain movements because I feared specific pains or sounds so I avoided movements that could’ve helped build strength and my confidence.

just as an anecdote, you can also get hyper flexibility which also is in my opinion TMS, I had a knee injury back in April which I thought was ligament, my right knee started giving out, then my left knee felt like it was gonna cave in (lol- is there a more clear sign of TMS than shifting sides ) I went to orthopedist who looked at both of them and did the tests to rule out acl tear (lachman and cranial drawer) and both weere very positive, mri showed no ligament injury, and I was back to playing volleyball in 2 weeks. The minds a powerful thing!
 
Rabscuttle said:
Yoga helped a lot for my inflexibility, but it’s important to not approach it as the sole solution. Yoga is also great for the mindfulness aspect, I think doing it in a studio with other people is more ideal than alone in your home but there are plenty of great videos on YouTube. Yes the underlying issue is rooted in the emotions and stress and tension but we have to recognize if we’ve started fearing movement and not been exercising our body is going to get stuck in a loop of tensing up and fearing movement. Exercise is a constant reminder that we aren’t broken and also tells the scared brain that we aren’t letting it dictate our lives.

I’m not where I want to be regarding flexibility by I’m so much better. Yes mine is almost entirely rooted in TMS, but I also spent a decade avoiding certain movements because I feared specific pains or sounds so I avoided movements that could’ve helped build strength and my confidence.

just as an anecdote, you can also get hyper flexibility which also is in my opinion TMS, I had a knee injury back in April which I thought was ligament, my right knee started giving out, then my left knee felt like it was gonna cave in (lol- is there a more clear sign of TMS than shifting sides ) I went to orthopedist who looked at both of them and did the tests to rule out acl tear (lachman and cranial drawer) and both weere very positive, mri showed no ligament injury, and I was back to playing volleyball in 2 weeks. The minds a powerful thing!
Click to expand...
Yup I avoided certain movements / activities because I thought I had some disc issue . I got my mri , scans , ncs , spect etc after 4 years of dealing with back pain / tingling which were all negative which gave me more confidence that it was just TMS . And I've just started reading books , articles etc from the last 3 months . So do you think it takes time for seeing changes as I'm pretty new to TMS ?
 
monica-tms said:
Stretching them more reflects a physical way of thinking. You need to remind yourself that there’s nothing physically wrong with you. By telling your brain that something needs to be fixed, you’re feeding it misinformation.

Instead, focus on working through the emotional aspects and addressing any conditioned responses. Have you tried looking into the SEP program? It’s free on this website, and I’ve heard it’s really good to start out with.
Click to expand...
Thank you much for the link . I will check it out for sure
 
GokuGn said:
Yup I avoided certain movements / activities because I thought I had some disc issue . I got my mri , scans , ncs , spect etc after 4 years of dealing with back pain / tingling which were all negative which gave me more confidence that it was just TMS . And I've just started reading books , articles etc from the last 3 months . So do you think it takes time for seeing changes as I'm pretty new to TMS ?
Click to expand...
I’m 8months being TMS aware, yes it takes time. Especially considering I’ve been living dysfunctionally my entire life. I’ve made massive progress- back to working, can exercise decently, can play sports at an okay level. But most importantly I’m starting to address the emotional and thought patterns that have fueled my symptoms. Less prone to fear and panic.

how much are you implementing the knowledge?
 
Yes, @GokuGn, if you haven't done the emotional work yet, start there, with the SEP. It's free of cost or even registration requirements - you just do it - but pay attention to the preliminary advice.

Also, stop going to physios. They're going to pander to your belief that there's a specific physical "problem" to focus on. Instead, find a personal trainer at a gym, explain that you've been medically checked out, and that you want to retrain your brain and challenge your self-limiting beliefs. Learn to recognize when you feel fear, and make the decision to reject the fear and visualize success.
 
JanAtheCPA said:
Yes, @GokuGn, if you haven't done the emotional work yet, start there, with the SEP. It's free of cost or even registration requirements - you just do it - but pay attention to the preliminary advice.

Also, stop going to physios. They're going to pander to your belief that there's a specific physical "problem" to focus on. Instead, find a personal trainer at a gym, explain that you've been medically checked out, and that you want to retrain your brain and challenge your self-limiting beliefs. Learn to recognize when you feel fear, and make the decision to reject the fear and visualize success.
Click to expand...
Sure will check out the SEP . Most PTs in my area are not knowledgeable about brain generated symtopms . The current PT is aware of mind body pain that's the reason I'm working with him . He also is helping me in getting back to movements which I'm afraid of
 
Rabscuttle said:
I’m 8months being TMS aware, yes it takes time. Especially considering I’ve been living dysfunctionally my entire life. I’ve made massive progress- back to working, can exercise decently, can play sports at an okay level. But most importantly I’m starting to address the emotional and thought patterns that have fueled my symptoms. Less prone to fear and panic.

how much are you implementing the knowledge?
Click to expand...
Could you get back to sports immediately once you got to know about TMS ? I was a star football player on my college team but now just thinking about running makes me freeze .

I'm implementing somatic tracking , Journaling, reading about TMS , guided meditation and trying to resume activities which I was previously avoiding
 
monica-tms said:
In my case, I know that most of my inflexibility comes from TMS. The few times I’ve been almost or even completely free of symptoms, my flexibility improved by about 80-90% as well
Click to expand...
me too! I’m stiff as a board. And it’s being caused by my mind! So hard to believe. But true.

GokuGn said:
And I've just started reading books , articles etc from the last 3 months . So do you think it takes time for seeing changes as I'm pretty new to TMS ?
Click to expand...
hi, gokugn-
Yes, it definitely takes time. There’s a lot for you to learn About yourself and about your life that got you to the place where you are now. But the good news is you can get better if you don’t give up. Find a place to start that interests you— There are so many different ways to go about this, But they all involve learning about your emotions.
 
GokuGn said:
Could you get back to sports immediately once you got to know about TMS ? I was a star football player on my college team but now just thinking about running makes me freeze .

I'm implementing somatic tracking , Journaling, reading about TMS , guided meditation and trying to resume activities which I was previously avoiding
Click to expand...
I was back to biking and volleyball within 1 month of being TMS aware. The timeline is irrelevant. It’s about you and what you believe you can manage. I had enough of a foundation to limit fear with my initials symptoms that the resulting flares didn’t deter me from continuing physical hobbies.
 
Rabscuttle said:
I was back to biking and volleyball within 1 month of being TMS aware. The timeline is irrelevant. It’s about you and what you believe you can manage. I had enough of a foundation to limit fear with my initials symptoms that the resulting flares didn’t deter me from continuing physical hobbies.
Click to expand...
Can I please dm you ? I've got a few doubts which I wanna ask you . As I don't have anyone to discuss about TMS
 
Lots of great advice already given above. I'll add that this might sound counterintuitive but have you considered doing strengthening exercises for your "inflexible" areas? A classic phrase is "weak muscles are tight muscles."

I think this is probably a TMS manifestations and you absolutely should approach it that way, but here are some reasons why you might do some specific strength work:

- What have you got to lose?
- They're easy and free (lots of things can be done at home with bodyweight, or use a gym if you like that environment)
- Getting stronger is a net positive.
- You might find you enjoy strength training (I do)
- Strength work will drive blood flow to the affected area(s), if it's TMS and bloodflow restriction is the problem, this will help.

Some negatives from a TMS perspective:
- It's body focused.
- Don't do it as a fix for pain, try to approach as a net positive to your overall health instead.
 
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