Pins & Needles / Tingling in Arm

[Ira NYC]

About 15 years ago, I got through back and neck pain after committing to understanding TMS via the Sarno books, etc.
Over the past 3 months, I have had intermittent pins & needles and tingling in my right arm that I have not been able to resolve despite going all in on TMS and working through the approach to the best of my ability.

Working with a TMS therapist, she suggest getting an MRI to rule out anything dangerous. The MRI that came back showed nothing requiring urgent attention, but identified stenosis, disc deterioration, etc. Interestingly, the MRI taken in 2026 identified much of the same findings as the MRI taken back in 2011.
In some ways, that put my mind at ease that this is most likely TMS.

Still though, I have struggled to get through this applying the methodology used in the past (journaling, reading materials, returning to activities, etc.).

Looking for some thoughts, comparable experiences or recommendations on how to push through to improvement on this. I think was bothers me most is the fact that I can bring on the symptoms based on turning my head in one direction. This might be causing me to backslip into thinking its not just TMS - which sends me into a panic cycle.

Anyway - appreciate any feedback. Thanks

 

[BloodMoon]

I wonder if it might help to stop analysing the symptoms quite so much and instead put more attention on what is actually getting on your nerves.

I know the symptoms can really “shout” at us, so it's almost impossible not to notice them. But aim simply to acknowledge them briefly — “hello, pins and needles” — without checking, analysing or trying to work out what they mean, and then gently move your attention back to expressing what is pissing you off.

That would be very much in keeping with what Dr Sarno was getting at when he encouraged people to think psychologically rather than physically. In other words, when the symptom appears, instead of going down the rabbit hole of What is causing this? What does this sensation mean? Why can I reproduce it by turning my head? — deliberately turn your attention towards What is going on emotionally? What am I angry about? What is frustrating me? What am I putting up with that I'm actually not okay with?

That can include the seemingly minor things that we tell ourselves we should be okay with but actually aren't, as well as the bigger frustrations and resentments in our lives.

Lately I've actually found it more useful not to do long journaling sessions, but to scribble down grievances and irritations throughout the day whenever they arise — basically, whatever is getting on my nerves (irrespective of whether I have any symptoms or not).

I think the important bit is not to make the symptom the centre of attention. Notice it, acknowledge it, and then think psychologically rather than physically.

Given that you've already had the MRI and been reassured that there was nothing requiring urgent attention, the challenge now is to practise shifting your attention consistently from noticing the physical symptoms to noticing the psychological, even when the symptom feels very convincing.

 

[HealingMe]

That would be very much in keeping with what Dr Sarno was getting at when he encouraged people to think psychologically rather than physically. In other words, when the symptom appears, instead of going down the rabbit hole of What is causing this? What does this sensation mean? Why can I reproduce it by turning my head? — deliberately turn your attention towards What is going on emotionally? What am I angry about? What is frustrating me? What am I putting up with that I'm actually not okay with?

Totally agree with thinking psychologically, but I think it’s important not to turn that into another rabbit hole of trying to figure out exactly what emotion is underneath every symptom. Sometimes a feeling or sensation can simply be acknowledged and allowed to pass without needing to know its origin or meaning.

In this case if it were me, I’d respond to the pins and needles as “okay, weird sensation moving my head” and then move on with my day, back to living life. Rinse, repeat as needed, and then one day you don’t even think about it anymore because the false alarm has turned off. There is no danger.

 

[BloodMoon]

Sometimes a feeling or sensation can simply be acknowledged and allowed to pass without needing to know its origin or meaning.

I agree, as I lost a lot of symptoms despite not knowing exactly what may have been going on behind them psychologically, simply by getting on with my life as best I could despite the symptoms.

However, it's also true to say — and I can only speak from my personal experience here — that some of my remaining symptoms, which stubbornly stayed around for the last couple of years, didn't go until I'd recognised what irritation, anger or some other feeling was behind them. And in recognising those feelings, I ended up expressing them.

That said, I never found that dredging up stuff from the past to examine, or trying to mine for things my brain might have suppressed, helped me personally in my recovery at all (although some people say that's what they needed to do in order to recover). Trying to do that can be a real rabbit hole; well, it was for me. The "thinking psychologically" that helped me most was much more about recognising the everyday stuff that was irritating, annoying or upsetting me.

So I think both things can be true: you don't necessarily need to figure out the psychological meaning of every symptom, but recognising and responding to what's going on emotionally can be very helpful, especially if you find yourself stuck.

 

[Adam Coloretti (coach)]

I agree, as I lost a lot of symptoms despite not knowing exactly what may have been going on behind them psychologically, simply by getting on with my life as best I could despite the symptoms.

However, it's also true to say — and I can only speak from my personal experience here — that some of my remaining symptoms, which stubbornly stayed around for the last couple of years, didn't go until I'd recognised what irritation, anger or some other feeling was behind them. And in recognising those feelings, I ended up expressing them.

That said, I never found that dredging up stuff from the past to examine, or trying to mine for things my brain might have suppressed, helped me personally in my recovery at all (although some people say that's what they needed to do in order to recover). Trying to do that can be a real rabbit hole; well, it was for me. The "thinking psychologically" that helped me most was much more about recognising the everyday stuff that was irritating, annoying or upsetting me.

So I think both things can be true: you don't necessarily need to figure out the psychological meaning of every symptom, but recognising and responding to what's going on emotionally can be very helpful, especially if you find yourself stuck.

I think spot on in terms of it's a balance and both can be true

@Ira NYC I was just wondering when you initially healed 15 years ago, how long did it take and what did you do specifically to recover?

Because a common pattern is that some people heal certain symptoms very quickly purely through the awareness that nothing is wrong (which is great), but because if this they don't do the deeper work (fair enough, because symptoms are gone - there's no impetus to). New symptoms then may appear further down the line, which is signalling that there's probably some deeper work to do (and pure awareness that nothing is wrong won't cut it this time).

That might not be true in your case, but it's a common pattern I see