Recurring Pain During COVID-19

Hello Friends,
I have been healing from TMS for about 2 years now and in that time frame my pain comes and goes in times of stress and when I am in places or doing activities that I did when I had my acute episode from 2014-2018. I would love some advice and support as I am dealing with more increased pain in the last few months since we all have been quarantined and it does cause me to worry which I am sure is not helping my pain. Any stories, or advice would be helpful!

 

Hey there!

These are tough and stressful times. I'm sorry to hear that you've had some recurring pain, and I'd like to share a mini success story that might aid you in your healing process. I too had a recurrence of pain during COVID-19.

I have been free of "RSI" and hand pain since 2016. See https://www.tmswiki.org/forum/threads/hands-pain-free-for-over-a-year-no-more-rsi.17740/#post-93949 (Hands pain free for over a year. No more RSI!) for the success story. It also has a link to my original post on the forum for help.

The start of the quarantine coincided with moving into a new apartment by myself for the first time. I was very excited to try living by myself. This combined with the quarantine got me regularly working on my computer for longer hours. About a month into the quarantine I had a flare up of hand pain. I had subconsciously convinced myself that the pain should return due to both my increased lethargy and computer use.

Here is what I did:

1. I first told myself to not panic and remain calm. This time I was ready. I knew that the pain was no cause for concern even though it was nagging me a bit.
   
2. I continued working and acting as normal. I didn't tell my boss. I didn't tell my friends. I didn't tell my parents. I made a conscious effort to ignore it.
3. I told myself that only a month of some long computer nights and less exercise isn't enough to cause my otherwise strong hands to fail me. I had been working on the computer for 4 straight years with no symptoms without slowing down. It just didn't make sense for the pain to return.
4. I focused more on self care. Herbal Teas, Long baths, etc.
5. I was feeling a bit tight all over so I started doing more regular yoga to loosen up. I had done yoga occasionally before, but never regularly. It gave me something to look forward to at the end of the day and I knew the stretching was undoubtedly good for me.

After a couple weeks, the pain disappeared, further solidifying my confidence that it truly was a result of psychological stress. I never stopped working at the computer. Before this flare up, there was always a small part of me that looked back on that year of pain in 2016 and questioned whether or not it really was TMS. Now I'm 100% confident it was. While the quarantine has been especially tough for those of us that struggle with chronic stress and mental health, I hope it will offer you a similar opportunity to heal in this way.

I hope this helps. I'm happy to continue the discussion in the forum as well