Pushing through the pain?

I walked about one and a half miles yesterday, not much I know compared with a year ago. Have done it several times recently but this time it was up and down slopes and on some uneven ground. Last night I was in a lot of pain and today its worse. Should I just do it again or let the pain subside before doing it again. My muscles have got weak with 9 months of lying down but I don't want to overdo it. How can you tell what is TMS pain and what is normal unused muscle pain? Also I seem to be a bit stuck in the past mentally - on Thursday my friends went to a local event and my ex husband was there with his new wife (or as my ex brother in law said 'she is not that new, she's been round the block a few times'), I digress - anyway it started this tight feeling in my chest. anyway that said, should I rest until pain subsides or keep going. I'm scared ending up bed bound 24/7 again. At the moment its about 20/7.

No TMS doctors in UK, no one has even heard of it except a physio who runs an online course or does face to face treatment but she is 400 miles away and I can't afford the online course, also there is no back up. you sign up and you are on your own.

Sorry if I'm a pest with all these questions. There are some remarkable stories on this site and I want to be one.

Paddi

 

Hi, Paddipaws. Walt again. You need to convince yourself your pain is 100 percent TMS. Not structural. Holding back even 1 % is not going to heal you. Steve Ozanich says "All or Nothing."
No wonder your TMS pain flared up, seeing your ex-husband with his "new" wife.
You don't need to spend a dime to heal. Just start the Structured Education Program on the TMS Wiki. It's free and its helped many many people to be pain free.
You'll be posting your success story soon!

 

Maybe tell yourself you're glad to be rid of the ex, and his "new" wife is going to make his life miserable.
Think about the handsome new hunk you're about to meet that will take your life onto Cloud 9.
That'll sink any repressed emotions on that subject.

 

I think the advice that Steve Ozanich gives in Chapter 14 of his Healing Back Pain book is especially germane in your case, paddipaws: "You need to understand that you must lean into the pain. Don't pull back from it while sitting down or bending, while in any type of position or while performing any movement". Steve goes on, "Allowing pain reduces the fear that has wrongfully been instilled in you, that you are damaging your body further. It is an irrational fear that you are hurting your back or knee by the presence of pain, or that you can further hurt yourself or that you can hurt yourself through physical movement" p. 193. Dr Sarno calls this irrational fear "physicophobia" - an irrational fear of movement.

As Walt notes, that event attended by yourself and your ex-husband with his new wife is one heck of a psychological "trigger"! I would look to that as the cause that necessitated your inner anger to start to rise to the surface and demand TMS pain symptoms to distract you from feelings you'd rather not deal with on the conscious level.

Personally, I'd let the pain go down a bit before going out there and pushing it again. But first I'd examine the psychological situation you are currently in and see how it had produced the need for your TMS pain symptoms.

"How can you tell what is TMS pain and what is normal unused muscle pain?"

Answer: You can't for certain. However, based on my own experience, I've noticed how TMS has an uncanny way of amplifying normal muscle soreness following exercise. But if your soreness doesn't subside in a timely manner (48 hours or so is what I've heard from exercise physiologists), you should probably look for another source like your own psychology. That is, I'm assuming that you've been check out by a physician to allow you to return to full activity after your 9-month hiatus from exercise.

 

Thanks for quoting me at length as if I'd some kind of an expert. Hah! But one more extremely bit of useful advice that Steve O gives in that crux Chapter 14 is to willfully move your consciousness out of the painful area and relocate it in another place that is pain-free. That is, for example, if you lower left lumbar region hurts, move your mind into the opposite side of your back or knee or shoulder or whatever. I've done that myself while out hiking to good effect. Seems to work. If the shoe fits, wear it! I guess it's all part of being mindful and getting control control over your symptoms as aspects of bodymind.

 

Hi Bruce,
Yes my mri scan showed nothing major, just a healing annular tear. However I know that I cannot just launch into full activity but need to ease in, particularly with regard to bending and lifting. I know my back would go into spasm and I would be flat out again. I am beginning to accept there is no structural damage but I am 66 and am going to build myself up gradually. I am aiming for just being able to walk, drive and sit on my sofa at the moment. Some friends popped round tonight unexpectedly with some fish and chips - our national dish - and I sat on the sofa for three hours, which is a record for me at the moment. I've got to walk before I start running. If you read my post from earlier today I have admitted what my real problem could be. The exhusband is a factor, not that I would want him back but I invested 20 years and alot of hardwork. I wish he didn't live so close.

I WILL get better, the alternative is not an option but it's early days so I won't be out cutting my grass for a while. I am to scared to bend over at the moment because I am so stiff. When I begin to get more confidence I will be able to think more about other people and not be so self absorbed. I'm not usually.

Paddipaws

 

Bruce, sorry didn't mean to quote you, just getting used to my new tablet. It is so sensitive, like me, it keeps overreacting. I did a nice reply to Walt last night and lost it all, it took me ages and I suppose its floating around in cyberspace with nowhere to go.
Paddipaws