Day 1 Okay lets do this..

[J-1]

Hello TMS'ers

I've been having burning pain in my lowerback / hip since may 2012.
Panadol (Paracetamol) seems to reduce most of the pain but I'm not that keen on popping pills to feel good and would rather treat the source rather than the symptom

My story:
December 2011 I did a 330lb(150kg) deadlift with bad form and felt some light snapping in my back. I laid off training and after 1-2weeks the dull pain in my low back was gone. I continued training after this but skipped the Squats and deadlifts to be safe.
In February 2012 I was able to play beachvolleyball with my friends without any problems.

In May 2012 I started a summer job and swimming. I swam 1 km, 3 times a week for about 3 weeks before I started feeling the burning sensation in my Hip. I contacted a MD and she did some straight leg test and recommended Physiotherapy for the sciatic pain. I went to the physio a couple of times, which didn't really help at all, although he promised that it would just take a couple of times to get rid of the pain.

In August 2012 I went to study abroad to California, where i Went to a Chiropractor 3 times a week for about 3 months. Some of the pain went away but I was still unable to do most physical activities and still could not bend over to touch the floor. The pain also seemed to be less and more under this time and the Chrio could not understand what was making my muscles so tight either.

Coming back home I went to see a Back specialist that came highly recommended by my mothers friend. He read the report from my Chiro in California and recommended that we try SI-joint injections. The first injections seemed to reduce the pain but the second didn't do that much (placebo?). So he scheduled me for an MRI.

Now I've been going on with my studies and also researching more about what could be causing the pain. I found out about TMS 2 weeks ago and read through Sarno's book in 3 days. I'm feeling positive that the pain is due to TMS.
Last week I was on the scheduled MRI-scan and the Doctor called me the day after and said that I had 2 herniations:
L4-L5 pressing on the left nerve root and L5-S1 also pressing on the left nerve root (one of these herniations were smaller, can't remember which though)
He recommended physiotherapy and that I show the practitioner his statement so they will know what to treat.

The day after and the last 2-3 days my pain has been more intense due to knowing that something is "wrong" but I'm trying to convince myself that it is the brain that is causing this pain.

My plan now is to go see a physiotherapist with the statement from the back specialist and see if they have some special exercises specially for this problem, or if it is just the same stuff that my other physiotherapist/Chiropractor recommended me (which didn't really work).
Is this a bad idea? Should I just skip the physiotherapy all together or should I go a couple of times to see if they have some other approach now that they "know" what the problem is?

I've paid for my gymmembership and plan to start training more again to see if I will get back my flexibility and become painfree

//J

 

[Stella]

I would skip the physio. Many times they will tell you to stop doing something when you really need to keep moving and keep exercising. Plus you need to be thinking and focusing on psychological not physical.

You are going on an incredible journey.

 

[Leslie]

J
How do you know for certain that something is "wrong" as you write? Is it wrong simply because a doctor has showed you a picture of it and told you so? Do you have an MRI from before the pain started where you can put them side by side and say for absolute certain that the new one is "wrong"? Maybe it has been like that all along but since you never had cause to go in there and look you never knew it. Just some a thought.

I won't presume to know what is the best decision for you. What I can tell you is that there is little doubt that they will give you some sort of "special exercises" (that is what you're paying them for). You can probably find a 24 hour long circuit of them for yourself with a google search if that is what you're after.

 

[J-1]

Sandy
Well I won't take anything easier because I've tried that for 3 months in Cali and it didn't work. I'm just interested to see if they're gonna have some exercise that'll focus more on correcting the herniation (to my understanding that should be possible?). If they're gonna recommend the same manipulations/exercises that I've already tried I'm not gonna continue with it.

Leslie
That is why I put it in quotation marks


One interesting thing about this pain is that my dad experienced the same symptoms when he was in his twenties, and my brother also experienced them when he was my age. My brother still experiences the pain but not as bad as when he was my age.

Another thing I remember is that when I hurt my back I had an even and dull pain all over my lower back, which went away after 2 weeks, So I guess that that injury healed itself.
The pain I have now is sciatic and located in my hip, with some aching in the IT-bands from time to time, which shows that the pain is moving around.

It is funny how I've started to realize what might be influencing the pain. I haven't really started with the journaling. But just writing about my problem here seemed to have helped lowering the pain. I also noted that if my mind is occupied with something else I wont notice the pain (for example if I'm at a boring lecture my legs/hip will start to hurt/ache, while having sex is no problem at all)

I found an interesting technique here on the forums as well:
http://www.tmswiki.org/forum/threads/get-the-subconscious-to-do-what-you-want-video.1523/I tried when I was meditating to (rather than working against the subconscious) "make a deal" with it:
If the pain starts to go away, I will be able to workout more and be more active, which will result in me living longer (WIN-WIN if the subconscious thinks that far ahead =D).
Lets see how that works out. I just need to do it a couple of times to reassure the subconscious and get more examples of healthy active people that have lived long (which there is plenty of)

 

[Leslie]

(J's quote) The day after and the last 2-3 days my pain has been more intense due to knowing that something is "wrong" but I'm trying to convince myself that it is the brain that is causing this pain. My plan now is to go see a physiotherapist with the statement from the back specialist and see if they have some special exercises specially for this problem, or if it is just the same stuff that my other physiotherapist/Chiropractor recommended me (which didn't really work).

Hi J
I would challenge you here to ask yourself some questions about your use of the word "wrong" including the quotes. If you are trying to "convince" yourself "that it is the brain that is causing the pain", is it because you are challenging your belief that something is indeed wrong structurally? And if your plan now is to consult physical experts, would you not potentially be reinforcing that possible belief of a structural wrong?

I would caution you to be very vigilant with your thoughts. I am a great user of sarcasm myself and I just recently realized (due to the wisdom and kindness of some wonderful people here pointing it out to me) that often times my sarcasm is inadvertently confirming my negative or self-destructive/defeating thoughts. I just learned very recently that our sub-conscious mind does not understand sarcasm at all, to that part of the mind everything is literal.

I wish you well in whatever avenues you pursue for your healing and I hope that you are pain-free very soon.
Leslie