Playing tennis

In a rash moment on day 2 of the programme (yesterday), I made a commitment to play tennis this Saturday. (I haven't played all year.) However, whilst rationally I know I have TMS so I shouldn't come to any harm, I feel pretty scared about the prospect. The last time I exercised was a few weeks back when I went swimming. Whilst I had no pain at the time, my arms really hurt for about a week afterwards. Right now (on day 3 of the programme), my arms/hands still hurt so I wonder if it's too soon for such a big step? Would it be better to build up my confidence more first (after all, I've stopped avoiding typing - perhaps that's enough for now)?

Opinions/experiences welcome!

 

Sounds like you are hesitant about this big step. Perhaps taking a more gradual approach and building up to the tennis would be good, like you stated.

What transitional step or phase could be a part of building more confidence toward actually playing tennis?

You will know when you are ready

 

I think the way it works is something like this: If you get overly ambitious and over do exercising, you'll get real sore afterwards, more than you would if you didn't have TMS. However, once the soreness wears off, you'll have advanced another step in the recovery process. So, you'll get sore and hurt more for a few days? So what. It's like Dr. Sarno says, you can't really hurt yourself because your pain is due to TMS or the MBS or whatever else you want to call it. IOWs: Nothing to really be afraid of, except maybe fear itself to paraphrase FDR. I raised the bar last weekend on a three-day trip to Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite. Took a 1000 ft uphill hike, did traverses on a big granite apron, went bouldering at the Knobs area, tried to do traverses on a big granite slab and, sure enough, after two days, I got really, really sore. However, when I came back down to the Bay Area after resting a few days, I felt much much better and noticed a big improvement in the strength in my left leg walking up flights of stairs. You might get real sore after that tennis match, but does it really matter? If you keep doing challenging stuff like that, you will begin to notice real improvement. For example, I went out for a bike ride two days' after returning from the mountains and was amazed at the improved amount of coordination in my hips and legs. Seems as though overdoing it can hurt, but the amount of improvement is well worth it. If you're sore after your tennis match, you're sure to improve a lot from it in the long run. I think that's what Dr. Sarno means by overcoming your fear of physical activity.

 

While you may be a little sore as it's muscles you may not have used for awhile, playing tennis doesn't cause harm.
I hesitated to do certain exercises for a long time, then one day decided to just go for it. And I was just fine.
Fear is very powerful!



MorComm: I loved Yosemite! Bridal veil Falls, the huge pinecones, the massive trees. . .

 

Thanks everyone for your responses. (I didn't notice because I was expecting to be emailed when anyone replied and wasn't - and there was I, thinking no one loved me!) Anyway, you may like to know that I didn't play tennis last week. The real reason was that I felt I just wasn't ready (though it was raining, and the Olympics were on, so there were plenty of excuses). I will play tennis, and soon, but I think it's important to play when feel like I'm ready and not too scared. Though I will take on board your comments about just going for it, and the fact that it may lead to temporary soreness. It's a journey!

The good news is that I think I will be ready soon because I am noticing a distinct lessening of the pain since I started the structured programme. The day-by-day improvement is pretty subtle, but when I think back to how I was almost two weeks ago, it's not subtle at all.

The bad news is that I've noticed that one trigger for my nerve pain is excitement. When I think I'm getting better, I get excited, then the pain comes back! But I'm sure that will pass.

Keep up the good work everyone - it's great knowing there's lots of support and great using all the resources put together with your hard work.

 

Yes, Michael, it seems as though the psyche doesn't distinguish between plain old excitement (which can be emotionally positive) and downright bad emotions with negative connotations. Both can act as psychological "triggers" for TMS pain.

 

This happened to me this week--in my case I think I was at some level putting more pressure on myself--like now I'm all better so I can't be having pain or anxiety again. I keep reminding myself it's a process and it takes as long as it takes.