Is duck feet gait tms?

Hi everyone. I wasn't planning to write as much as I did but I cant help but feel like the details might be important. If you don't want to read everything I wrote then I wrote a tldr at the very end.

Many parts of my body experience different types of pain. I experience chronic pain on almost every body part except my chest/stomach.

I want to believe all my chronic pain is tms and can be overcome. One of the body parts that I have the most concern for is my left hip. Most of my pain is potentially from repetitive stress or poor ergonomics which logically should heal and not be chronic. I believe my hip pain is from a running injury back in 2018 and so I am less confident that this issue is tms compared to my other chronic pain issues.

I walk with duck feet. My feet naturally turns outward when I walk. It seems like it could be an external hip rotation issue based on the way my legs rotate outwards when I walk. I have been to physical therapy in the past before I learned about tms but was never able to get relief.

I have heard it's not good to do physical therapy when you have tms since it confuses your brain that it is a structural issue rather than an issue with your brain misperceiving pain.

Lately I have started to consciously keep my feet straight when I walk around. When I do this I get less pain on some parts of my leg where I normally get pain but then get pains on other parts of my body where I normally wouldn't get pain when I let my legs naturally turn outwards as I walk.

I have started to get an increase in outer leg pain and my outer foot on my left leg/foot when I try to sleep on my back or sleep on my left side. I'm not sure if this is from walking around intentionally keeping my feet straight or perhaps just from more intentional standing and going out side for longer walks.


TLDR

Do y'all think my hip/leg issue could still be tms despite it being potentially caused by an actual injury? Should I keep my feet straight when I walk or would it be better to just let my legs turn outwards? The way my legs turn outward feels almost robotic and unnatural but for some reason that's how my legs move when I don't consciously focus on keeping legs straight when I walk. I have an identical twin brother who also has chronic pain issues but his feet naturally are aligned forward. He is open to the idea of tms but also believes he has had pain relief from yoga and chiropractor.

This issue has been ongoing for several years but I have just started getting into Dr Sarno's work a couple months ago.

 

This is something to discuss with your Dr.
Frankly I don’t think “duck feet” are TMS.. I think they are a normal abnormality, a quirk that sets you apart from others.
TMS - the anxiety and stress which cause TMS, can change us physically. I have physical changes and I know those can be reversed - many people here have had visible physical changes reverse after doing the work, and others have had those changes remain without any pain.

 

Thanks for the reply. After thinking about it I remember one of the physical therapists did tell me my walking gait was off so I guess I'll mess around with keeping my feet straight more often and see if my body could get used to that.

 

TMS is about chronic pain and other symptoms generated by internal anxiety and stress. It's not about the traditional medical model that focuses purely on the physical and what is "wrong" in our bodies. It's a totally radical approach to understanding the true reason for our discomfort.

If you'd like to understand more about TMS, and how you generate internal stress and anxiety, please read a book by Dr. Sarno here's more information including books he's written: https://www.tmswiki.org/ppd/John_E._Sarno,_MD (John E. Sarno, MD)

 

@Chris27 , I suggest going to a busy place, sitting down, and people watching for a while. You will find people walking around with all kinds of weird gaits and body parts, but not paying any attention to it, and just enjoying their time in public. Being overly focused on our bodies is part of TMS. It's possible to have things "off" about our bodies, but no pain or disability. PTs are trained to find things "off". I wouldn't worry about it.

 

One thing that confuses me is why my identical twin brother has his gait aligned forward whereas my gait goes outwards. I would think they would be similar since we are identical twins.

I wouldn't mind the way my gait is if it wasn't physically uncomfortable. Either way it's uncomfortable whether I try to align my feet forward or let them externally rotate. Depending on my feet position it just changes where I experience pain. I appreciate your response and will try my best to be less bothered by this phenomenon.

 

I slightly disagree with you here cactus, if he has muscle tension in his hips, legs, calves they can all change his walking gait. My right foot does the same but I have had stiff legs and hips for several years (nearly all gone) and I never used to have duck feet prior to on set of pain.

Another example is I that I had forward head and shoulder posture and they were really bad and since they have loosened up they are moving back to its normal position.

Persistent muscle tension can definitely cause posture changes!

As for Chris, you have nothing to lose but try the TMS route, I recommended the SEP on here and watching Dan Buglio on YouTube

 

Thank you for your words of encouragement. I love watching Dan Bugelio's YouTube videos. I have been considering buying a month of his group sessions when I am less busy. I will look into the SEP link as well

 

Fal:
The obsessional thinking and worry do lead me to think this is TMS, but having duck feet alone is not necessarily a "sign". People are born with duck feet and have no pain. Actually, @Chris27 doesn't mention his feet cause him pain (just his hip). It is possible he was born this way, he doesn't explain.
I also mention I have severe physical changes I expect to completely reverse, Dan Buglio is an excellent example but so are several other TMS members who had physical changes that have reversed.

Doing the work is an excellent idea because there is obviously anxiety and getting stuck on thoughts. Chris, an example is worrying that your twin does not have duck feet and so they can't possibly be "normal" for you. Do you and your twin have other differences? Do you like different foods or different interests in life? Having duck feet might be no different than that, so it's not really worth your worry or time. You've got much more wonderful things to think about, I'm sure!

 

You're right we aren't exactly the same despite being identical twins. I mostly get hip and leg pain but my outer left foot gets sore when I lie on my back so I usually end up sleeping on my right side. When I lie down my feet naturally fall externally so I have to put pillows around my feet if I plan to lie on my back to try to prevent leg and foot discomfort. It's possible that I was born this way and only noticed it after I started getting pain. It's not just my feet it's like my entire leg up to my hip rotator wants to turn outwards to a large degree when I walk/run. I'm thinking it's probably best to try not to force my feet straight. The only issue is even when I walk with my duck footed gait I end up getting hip pain and leg pain when I stand or walk for too long. I used to be into running when I was younger but I had to give that up because of the pain. But yeah I think I suffer from anxiety that causes me to worry too much about things that are out of my control. So maybe it's a bit of both genetic and subconscious. I guess either way it wouldn't hurt to try to calm my mind with the mind body techniques that people like Sarno and Dan Bugelio teach.

 

“I guess either way it wouldn't hurt to try to calm my mind with the mind body techniques that people like Sarno and Dan Bugelio teach.”

bingo!