Hello Mark, and welcome to you (and to your neck).
Is there a chance my back issues are from dentistry/stress/posture? Am I a TMS patient ? Help!
Well, this is a big big question that we can't actually answer, because we are not medical professionals, and as a medical professional yourself, I'm sure you get this, right? Be sure to read our disclaimer at the bottom of every page.
That being said - I think most of us on this forum won't have a problem saying that undoubtedly some, probably most, and possibly all of your symptoms are, in fact, the result of the brain mechanism that we still call "TMS" in honor of John Sarno, MD.
The first thing for you to do (since you don't mention anything that you've read or done) is to read at least one of Dr. Sarno's books.
Healing Back Pain (1991, a revision of his original Mind Over Back Pain in 1984) is specific to back pain - I never read it, because back pain was a minor symptom when I was at my crisis point. You can't really go wrong with any of them, and some people read all of them (which I think is overkill and perhaps a way to avoid starting "the work). I certainly can recommend the one that I read, also his last one,
The Divided Mind, which I think has these advantages:
1) Dr Sarno's theories are as updated as he was able to achieve in his lifetime;
2) He very efficiently condensed his theories in just four chapters while making it clear that what he originally called "TMS" undoubtedly includes many more conditions than just back and muscle pain (which he had previously updated in 1998 with
The MindBody Prescription);
3) He turned over the rest of the
The Divided Mind book to five other MDs and a psychologist, for six individual chapters that enhance and build on Dr. Sarno's theories.
TDM was published in 2007, so it's already over 15 years old, and there have been an astonishing number of neuroscientific and psychological advances in mindbody knowledge and practice since then. Dr. Sarno is still the best place to start, and besides, this forum was established in his honor!
As you read Dr. Sarno, you can also look into starting our free SEP - the Structured Educational Program, which is on the main
www.tmswiki.org site. There's no registration or sign-up, so you're completely on your own to get it done. It's broken down into easy "Days" with absolutely no obligation do get one done every day. Getting through the SEP faster is NOT better, so take the time to let the information sink in. Even if all you can manage is a couple Days a week, that's fine - just keep at it and don't let your frantic brain talk you into quitting. Doing this work absolutely can't hurt, and it has helped many people, myself included (I did the SEP in 2011).
Another easy practice is to go to our
Success Stories subforum and read at least one story per day. They are not only inspirational, they will give you a really good idea of the different ways in which people have recovered from an incredible array of symptoms, while at the same time you'll start to recognize what is similar about the stories (in other words - what it takes).
