Same spot in left side

[NewmanIL]

I’m an adult in my 30s with chronic lower back pain since 2014, consistently centered in the lower left back around L4/L5. It can shift during the day, sometimes becoming more bilateral during the workday or moving up the spine or into the lower left hip/pelvic area. The pain is usually mild, around 0.5 to 2, but draining because it’s persistent. There’s no shooting pain down my legs, and exercise or golf doesn’t clearly worsen it. At times, especially when I’m relaxed or socially engaged, I barely notice it.

I’ve bought into TMS, I accept it, and I genuinely think this is what’s going on with me. I have all the classic characteristics, and I’ve made significant improvements since starting the TMS approach. The pain shifts, fluctuates with stress and attention, and often fades when I’m engaged or relaxed. Even so, this one specific spot in my lower left back at L4/L5 still shows up every morning, and that’s what I get stuck on. I’m trying hard not to make it a big deal and to stay consistent with the process, but I still catch myself wondering why that one spot hasn’t fully let go yet, which can feel frustrating.

 

[Cactusflower]

Disassociating your mind with learned patterns can be frustrating! I too have a similar situation.
Dr. Fantestil has a video about morning anxiety. I believe similar tactics can be used for the pain, because they really are one in the same. I love how simply and casually Dr. Fantestil approaches these issues. No Big Deal. Which is the exact technique he suggests! Treat things like no big deal. Keep your mind moving away from it's "target" which in this video is anxiety (which he describes as physical sensations combined with thoughts) , but in our case would be physical sensation (oh, and of course, the associated thoughts). He suggests the idea that the subconscious just really hasn't got the message about things being safe yet. This makes sense.
Do you have any techniques you use to work with your nervous system? That could be helpful.
I often find a short meditation in the PM and in the Am really helpful but I mix it up with also getting out of bed right way and getting my body moving. I don't want to replace habits and patterns, I want to slowly let them fade away.

 

[Bonnard]

Hello @NewmanIL

with chronic lower back pain since 2014, consistently centered in the lower left back around L4/L5. It can shift during the day, sometimes becoming more bilateral during the workday or moving up the spine or into the lower left hip/pelvic area. The pain is usually mild, around 0.5 to 2, but draining because it’s persistent. There’s no shooting pain down my legs, and exercise or golf doesn’t clearly worsen it.

Respectfully, this entire part above is unnecessary and not helpful. It's dragging your mind into the specifics of the physical symptoms. If you've bought into TMS, there's nothing wrong with L4 or L5 or your hip or pelvic area.

If you've bought into TMS, have you started to embrace the shift from focusing on physical symptoms to focusing on the psychological? Your focus on the physical symptoms is exactly the distraction that TMS is going for.
And, symptoms often move around the body, so there's no real point in hyper-focusing on where they are showing up.

I know there can be a gradual and deeper acceptance of TMS that develops over time as we learn more about ourselves and what's really going on. Just tryin' to nudge you in that direction.
Be well!

 

[iaminpain1989]

You've basically described everything resolving except the one spot your brain knows you're still watching. That's really common and it makes sense when you think about it.

The pain shifts around during the day, goes bilateral, moves up the spine, fades into the hip. And it mostly goes away when you're relaxed or engaged in something. All of that has responded to the TMS approach. But that L4/L5 spot keeps showing up every morning.

I think the morning part is key. You wake up and the first thing your brain does is check. "Is it still there?" And of course it is, because you just asked. That check-in is the attention that keeps it alive. It's the last conditioned response. Your brain has dropped most of the pattern but it's kept the one spot you monitor the most.

The frustrating truth is that the last 10% usually resolves when you genuinely stop caring whether it resolves. Not pretending not to care. Actually losing interest. Which is hard to force. But the fact that it fades when you're engaged in life tells you exactly what the exit looks like. More life, less monitoring.

This covers why pain often holds on in one spot even after you've accepted the TMS diagnosis: https://neuroplasticpainguide.org/conditions/back-pain/back-pain-and-stress/

You're way further along than you think. Pain went from dominating to a 0.5-2 that you barely notice when distracted. That's not "stuck." That's almost done.