Hey all,
So I'm an artist, but also definitely a worrier and stresser. Between my drive to improve my art and balance on my future, I feel I've definitely fallen under the TMS-Trap. Here's my story in brief;
I started getting a strange tingling in my neck after I switched from drawing on my table to a more slanted surface, as recommended by other artists. This was to prevent distortion of my work and, ironically, neck pain. I thought for sure that the tingling was related to my "forward head posture" and did a lot of exercises to fight that off, but it didn't seem to help. Not only that, but around this same time... I started getting lower back pain. I blamed it on the chair, and again, tried a lot of exercises, stretches; all useless. So, what was it that did stop both my neck tingling and back problems?
Wrist pain.
For three entire months I was convinced I had tendonitis, I did physical therapy, I stopped drawing entirely or even typing with my hand. Just a gloomy, sad period. I even started getting symptoms in my left hand! I noticed, however, that my tingling and back pain were gone. But then, something happened; on the third month, as I was resting my elbow on the table, I started getting Ulnar Nerve symptoms. Mysteriously, my wrist pain got much better; as my mind focused on the new elbow stuff, the wrist pain was weaker. That led me to investigate those TMS claims I'd read about, and start applying it to my hand. Wouldn't you know it, the next day my morning stiffness was gone.
From then then, I changed my mindset to believe that the pain I was experiencing was indeed TMS. I picked up drawing again, to my joy. The wrist pain was still there, weak but present, but I refused to pay it heed. Gradually, it went away. I wasn't out of the woods yet though; the wrist pain would resurface after a few days, and I would worry it was structural this time, but then after I'd get elbow symptoms again I'd repeat the process until I was pain free once more. After dealing with this on and on, I finally began to get the hint that there was no way that something was truly, physically wrong with my hand. It went away. So now my focus is on back and neck pain, just as it was months ago. They're certainly a lot more stubborn. With pain like this, should I believe it's all structural even though it vanished for a time? The thing that makes me doubt is how the neck tingling seems to vanish if I'm in certain positions, like drawing with a table on my lap, but it's not a convenient position.
This tingling is the most irritating thing, only affecting me when I draw, and the back pain's no fun either. Recently I keep wondering what it's like to just draw all day without any pain, and I realize that's just the thing I want most of all.
So I'm an artist, but also definitely a worrier and stresser. Between my drive to improve my art and balance on my future, I feel I've definitely fallen under the TMS-Trap. Here's my story in brief;
I started getting a strange tingling in my neck after I switched from drawing on my table to a more slanted surface, as recommended by other artists. This was to prevent distortion of my work and, ironically, neck pain. I thought for sure that the tingling was related to my "forward head posture" and did a lot of exercises to fight that off, but it didn't seem to help. Not only that, but around this same time... I started getting lower back pain. I blamed it on the chair, and again, tried a lot of exercises, stretches; all useless. So, what was it that did stop both my neck tingling and back problems?
Wrist pain.
For three entire months I was convinced I had tendonitis, I did physical therapy, I stopped drawing entirely or even typing with my hand. Just a gloomy, sad period. I even started getting symptoms in my left hand! I noticed, however, that my tingling and back pain were gone. But then, something happened; on the third month, as I was resting my elbow on the table, I started getting Ulnar Nerve symptoms. Mysteriously, my wrist pain got much better; as my mind focused on the new elbow stuff, the wrist pain was weaker. That led me to investigate those TMS claims I'd read about, and start applying it to my hand. Wouldn't you know it, the next day my morning stiffness was gone.
From then then, I changed my mindset to believe that the pain I was experiencing was indeed TMS. I picked up drawing again, to my joy. The wrist pain was still there, weak but present, but I refused to pay it heed. Gradually, it went away. I wasn't out of the woods yet though; the wrist pain would resurface after a few days, and I would worry it was structural this time, but then after I'd get elbow symptoms again I'd repeat the process until I was pain free once more. After dealing with this on and on, I finally began to get the hint that there was no way that something was truly, physically wrong with my hand. It went away. So now my focus is on back and neck pain, just as it was months ago. They're certainly a lot more stubborn. With pain like this, should I believe it's all structural even though it vanished for a time? The thing that makes me doubt is how the neck tingling seems to vanish if I'm in certain positions, like drawing with a table on my lap, but it's not a convenient position.
This tingling is the most irritating thing, only affecting me when I draw, and the back pain's no fun either. Recently I keep wondering what it's like to just draw all day without any pain, and I realize that's just the thing I want most of all.
