Is non-painful, nerve tingling the hands a symptom of TMS?

4

44nickn

Newcomer
About 5 years ago I started to get tingling in my pinky and ring fingers. Though I do get pain randomly, it's mostly faint "pins & needles". My doctor at the time had me do an EMG, which I was told showed 'cubital' and 'carpal tunnel'. Since then, it's been really frustrating because for years I have been sleeping with elbow & wrist splints to keep me from bending, plus I bend them as little as possible while awake. It's been hard because I'm a guitar teacher and my whole life was all about music and art. I've been able to still teach part time, but haven't played/practiced myself for years. Since then, The tingling has not gone but is less frequent and minimal as long as I didn't use my arms much. I recently read Dr. Sarno's book, "The Mind Body Prescription". I read it because of my chronic low back pain. It's not the worst pain ever, but is frequent and bad enough that for years that I couldn't sit long, or just stand/lounge w/out getting pretty bad aches. Since Reading it I believe to have started the beginning of a road to recovery. I have also started practicing guitar again, about 1 hour a day, but I noticed after a week that The tingling has gotten much more noticeable and frequent. I know I'm so early in my recovery but was wondering if this type of tingling and worsening is still part of TMS? Should I push through and keep at it? Any help and suggestions would really be appreciated.
 
Yes, tingling or “pins and needles” can sometimes occur with TMS (mind-body symptoms), especially when stress or anxiety is involved. However, tingling in the hands can also have physical causes such as nerve compression, vitamin deficiencies, or circulation issues. If it’s persistent, worsening, or accompanied by weakness or numbness, it’s best to discuss it with a healthcare professional.
 
44nickn said:
I have also started practicing guitar again, about 1 hour a day, but I noticed after a week that The tingling has gotten much more noticeable and frequent. I know I'm so early in my recovery but was wondering if this type of tingling and worsening is still part of TMS? Should I push through and keep at it? Any help and suggestions would really be appreciated.
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Tingling and pins and needles can be mind-body/TMS. I've had this myself in my wrist and fingers and it eventually went away.

The way I approached it was to take very small 'baby steps' in doing things. My symptoms (which included pain) were particularly bad when I typed. So, to start off with I didn't type every day and when I did, I started off with typing for only a few minutes at a time. I very gradually built up from that and can type on my laptop quite happily without issues now. Some TMSers overcome their symptoms by pushing through the symptoms with a kind of 'gung ho' approach, but that never worked for me, it scared my lizard brain far too much. Taking things in 'baby steps' though allowed me to 'fly under the radar'.

Btw, just in case you don't already know, and might be interested, the following totally free to use mind-body programs are available on the TMSWiki and the forum:
I should explain the following because many people who are new to the mind-body/TMS world find the options confusing—I know I did...

The Structured Educational Program is based more on Dr Sarno’s approach. In simple terms, this approach is that the brain creates symptoms to distract us from emotions such as rage or anger because it views those emotions as dangerous for us to feel or express. For example, if we are annoyed with our boss, it fears we might do something like hit them on the nose; they might hit us back, and we could then face other consequences, such as losing our job and being unable to pay for food or a roof over our heads.

Alan Gordon’s programmes focus more on the idea of a generally fearful brain that creates symptoms almost automatically, and on addressing this through neuroplasticity.

I and others believe (and have often found through our own experience) that for some people—not everyone—both processes may be involved; and indeed these forums are described as being for “TMS and Neuroplastic Symptom discussion”.

Most people start with the 42-Day Structured Educational Program and then they do one or both of Alan Gordon’s programmes if they need to (but it's also fine to do it the other way around).
 
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BloodMoon said:
Tingling and pins and needles can be mind-body/TMS. I've had this myself in my wrist and fingers and it eventually went away.

The way I approached it was to take very small 'baby steps' in doing things. My symptoms (which included pain) were particularly bad when I typed. So, to start off with I didn't type every day and when I did, I started off with typing for only a few minutes at a time. I very gradually built up from that and can type on my laptop quite happily without issues now. Some TMSers overcome their symptoms by pushing through the symptoms with a kind of 'gung ho' approach, but that never worked for me, it scared my lizard brain far too much. Taking things in 'baby steps' though allowed me to 'fly under the radar'.

Btw, just in case you don't already know, and might be interested, the following totally free to use mind-body programs are available on the TMSWiki and the forum:
I should explain the following because many people who are new to the mind-body/TMS world find the options confusing—I know I did...

The Structured Educational Program is based more on Dr Sarno’s approach. In simple terms, this approach is that the brain creates symptoms to distract us from emotions such as rage or anger because it views those emotions as dangerous for us to feel or express. For example, if we are annoyed with our boss, it fears we might do something like hit them on the nose; they might hit us back, and we could then face other consequences, such as losing our job and being unable to pay for food or a roof over our heads.

Alan Gordon’s programmes focus more on the idea of a generally fearful brain that creates symptoms almost automatically, and on addressing this through neuroplasticity.

I and others believe (and have often found through our own experience) that for some people—not everyone—both processes may be involved; and indeed these forums are described as being for “TMS and Neuroplastic Symptom discussion”.

Most people start with the 42-Day Structured Educational Program and then they do one or both of Alan Gordon’s programmes if they need to (but it's also fine to do it the other way around).
Click to expand...
Sounds good. That helps a lot. Thanks for the insight and info regarding the programs.
 
juliawhites said:
Yes, tingling or “pins and needles” can sometimes occur with TMS (mind-body symptoms), especially when stress or anxiety is involved. However, tingling in the hands can also have physical causes such as nerve compression, vitamin deficiencies, or circulation issues. If it’s persistent, worsening, or accompanied by weakness or numbness, it’s best to discuss it with a healthcare professional.
Click to expand...
Okay, will do. Thank you.
 
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