Sciatica animals

I have suffered with TMS/sciatica for years. There is one thing that confuses me:
How come and animal e.g. a dog can be diagnosed with sciatica e.g. bulging/degenerative disc causing pain down both legs and unable to walk. The dog undergoes surgery and is cured i.e. pain free and running free.
The dog would not have been cured without the surgery.
Now take a human with a similar disc condition. As TMS advocates are we saying that there are cases when surgery is the right option?

 

I don't know the answer, but I can speculate.

A lot of dogs, especially purebreds and large breeds have congenital defects and arthritis, so my guess is that they have structural problems that are not, as Dr. Sarno discribed, "grey hairs of the spine." I'm not certain, but I think its osteoarthritis that is not mindbody, but even with that TMS work helps. Tennis Tom has "real structural arthritis" in his hip, if you're interested in reading about it you can look him up.

 

Thanks Lizzy for your reply. While I believe (probably 80% )in TMS, confusion arises i.e. my original post which throws doubt sometimes. When doubt raises its ugly head, the physical pain reemerges!!I will have a look at Tennis Tom. Thanks again Lizzy.

 

Also remember that in infrequent cases, a disc could actually press on the spinal cord, causing a structural issue. This is pretty rare but does occur, could be in humans or animals. It’s not the presence of a herniated disc per se but where the disc goes. 99% if the time they are totally benign. I’ve seen the rare case as a PT where spinal cord issues arise. Hence the importance of going to a doctor if you have severe symptoms.

 

MindbodyPT,

I second that! My sister-in-law had her neck fused for that very thing. I believe it was structural, she had it done 8 years ago and has never had a relapse. She runs marathons and I am unaware of other types of TMS symptoms in her life.

I stayed with her for 10 days after she got out of the hospital and her case was very interesting to me. Before her surgery, from her shoulder down her arm progressed through pain and numbness. This happened in 2 months, just steady progression. She had her surgery and when she was recovered enough for them to show her how to use the pain med pump, she said she didn't need it, but they insisted she have that first dose so she could stay ahead of the pain. She never used any more pain meds, not even a Tylenol. She had no pain, even from the surgery. When we went to the follow up appointment and asked her surgeon about it, he said it was because he was a good surgeon. He never batted an eye, like he hears it all the time. Maybe he doesn't do surgeries that aren't needed, so he does hear it all the time. It was very interesting. Other family members and friends have not had good outcomes after fusion surgery.

So, maybe a dog only feels the real deal, so it always works.

Lizzy