1. Alan has completed the new Pain Recovery Program. To read or share it, use this updated link: https://www.tmswiki.org/forum/painrecovery/
    Dismiss Notice

Is my buttock spasm pain TMS

Discussion in 'General Discussion Subforum' started by Modem, Feb 20, 2025.

Tags:
  1. Modem

    Modem Newcomer

    Hi. I am a new to this forum. I am 74 years of age, male, and I live in Ireland. I read Dr Sarno book Healing Back Pain. I find his TMS theory very persuasive, and I am open to embrace it if needs be. I am looking for help in deciding if my low back buttock muscle spasm pain is TMS.
    I worked 40 years in Admin, sitting behind a desk. Up to the age of 34 I played a lot of football and hurling (an Irish field team game). Since then I have played golf once or twice most weeks, and I am still playing golf.
    For about the last 35 years, probably every year, I have had a periodic flare up of bad buttock muscle spasm pain - about three times a year, and it always takes most of three weeks to resolve itself. This is the only significant pain I have had over the last 35 years. A few times I got massage treatment, but it did not help much - so, most of the time I let it resolve itself. The pain has only been in my buttocks - it never occured in my legs or anywhere else.
    In the last 12 months, I have had four flare ups of this pain - approx last March, then May, then June and the most recent 6 days ago. Each time it has been caused by physical activity. The pain starts the evening of the activity, or when I wake up the following morning. The 1st event was after trying to pull a stubborn plant out of the ground. The 2nd was after a slight slip on a wet tiled floor - I did not fall - just a very slight foot slide. The 3rd was after bending down to lift up the toilet seat when I got out of bed in the morning. The 4th was after shoveling earth in the garden. Over the 35 years, all the flare ups have been after very simple everyday events like these, bending to pull on my socks etc. In the four most recent events, I felt the tug in my buttock as it happened, and, as far as I remember, over the 35 years, I felt the tug as it happened, most of the time.

    Given that my pain is triggered by a simple physical event, does it amount to TMS. Is it structural or psychological. If it is TMS - why does it only flare up after a physical event. I would struggle to find any repressed emotions. I am very calm and laid back. No anxiety, anger, fear etc. As I have read about TMS - some people with physical defects, get TMS pain. Why do other people with the same physical defects, not get any pain. Is it because they have no repressed emotions or other stressors.

    Last June I got an MRI done of my lumbar spine, because of having three flare ups close together. This is the only MRI that I have had done. Here is the extract of the MRI Report - as best as I can copy & paste.

    MRI Lumbar Spine 22/06/2024

    Indication:
    mw 18/06/2024 Previous imaging history: ;mw 18/06/2024 Scan reason: Getting recurring low back pain and stiffness.Says has had x 3 episodes now in past 3-4 months. Each episode takes at least 3/52 weeks to resolve. No direct injury.
    Pain at level of upper to mid buttock. No radiation to legs. Reduced range movements low back. No bladder nor bowel issues. Clinically low lumbar paravertebral muscl spasm. Reduced movements lower back in all directions. SLR 70 deg Bilat. Reflexes normal. Likely degenerative disease lumbar spine.

    Report:
    Transitional lumbosacral vertebra with S1 being lumbarised.
    Right subarticular/foraminal disc protrusion at L2/3, impinging the traversing L3 nerve root. Mild bilateral foraminal narrowing at L3/4. Moderate left and mild right lateral recess narrowing at L4/5. Severe disc degeneration at L5/S1 but no significant canal, lateral recess or foraminal narrowing.
    Patchy Marrow signal change in keeping with age related reconversion.

    Impression:
    Degenerative changes with a right sided protrusion at L2/3 , of questionable significance given the lack of any radicular symptoms.
     
  2. HealingMe

    HealingMe Beloved Grand Eagle

    Sorry, you don't have me convinced. I said the same thing. I had low back/glute pain, ranging from burning to spasming. By doing this work I was able to recover.

    Have you browsed the success stories on the forum?

    Here's a success story with similar pain symptoms:
    https://www.tmswiki.org/forum/threads/my-success-story-thanks.3454/ (My success story-thanks!)
    https://www.tmswiki.org/forum/threads/healed-from-chronic-back-pain.25621/ (Healed from chronic back pain)

    After, choose a program to follow like the SEP.
     
  3. JanAtheCPA

    JanAtheCPA Beloved Grand Eagle

    Just so you know, @Modem, it might be useful to you to be able to look back someday at this detailed history of your symptoms and diagnoses, but I skipped it. According to Dr Sarno's clinical findings back in the day, it's quite irrelevant.
    I'm with @HealingMe. This statement alone is a dead giveaway that:
    1. You have not yet actually absorbed what Dr Sarno was trying to tell you, and
    2. You are well and truly emotionally unaware. AKA, emotionally repressed.

    Sorry to be so blunt, @Modem! You are definitely in the right place, and if you are willing to completely shift your mindset and become more emotionally vulnerable to the fear and inner conflicts that every single human being is hiding in our unconscious brains, we are here to support your journey.

    Seriously, this work requires a 180-degree mind shift. I'm almost 74 now, and I was easily 90 degrees inclined towards the mindbody connection and self-healing when my lifelong mild TMS became a crisis at age 60. Dr Sarno provided the missing piece, and the SEP completed my shift towards recovery. Doing the work was easier for me due to my prior proclivities, but anyone can do it with an open mind.

    That being said, aging ain't pretty, and the state of the world has been an ever-increasing sucking hole of imminent despair for a while. If you don't believe that current events aren't affecting your well-being, you are either miraculously not paying attention or you're living off grid. Since the second is obviously not the case, the first is virtually impossible. This is probably the top layer of repression you'll need to acknowledge just to get started.

    Do as @HealingMe suggests and also reread Dr Sarno as you start a program. I described the difference between the programs on your other thread, and expressed my bias towards the Structured Educational Program (SEP).
     
  4. Modem

    Modem Newcomer

    Thanks for the replies to my queries. Developing a good understanding of TMS is the road to getting rid of doubts about it. Could you help with any comment on my other two queries -
    1. Given that my pain is triggered by a simple physical event, does it amount to TMS. Is it structural or psychological. If it is TMS - why does it only flare up after a physical event.
    2. As I have read about TMS - some people with physical defects, get TMS pain. Why do other people with the same physical defects, not get any pain. Is it because they have no repressed emotions or other stressors.

    Also, as regards the common pains in the back, legs, hips, knees, sciatica, shoulders, neck - is it the contention in TMS theory that these pains are most likely TMS in almost 100% of cases.
    Thanks in advance. I admire and respect the help that people on this forum provide.
     
  5. JanAtheCPA

    JanAtheCPA Beloved Grand Eagle

    These questions are focused on the physical, and are irrelevant. All sensations in the body are created in the brain. This is a neuroscientific fact. We know why the brain creates a pain sensation if you burn your hand or break your leg, right? It's to warn you to remove your hand or stop moving your leg. The brain is perfectly capable of giving you any sensation at all in order to distract you from emotional distress, and/or to keep you in a state of fear and alertness for danger. It will create whatever type of pain or discomfort is the most distracting for you. If one type or pattern stops getting your attention, it will switch things around.

    The possibilities are infinite. Therefore the details become irrelevant.
     
  6. JanAtheCPA

    JanAtheCPA Beloved Grand Eagle

    Dr Sarno said that in order to recover, we must stop thinking physically, and start thinking psychologically.
     

Share This Page