Severe Arthritic Knee Pain

Some time ago I started a thread about sciatica which was the most painful and debilitating experience in my life. I got a TMS diagnosis from Dr. Raushbaum and am doing much better with the sciatica. The SEP is tremendously helpful and this forum has been my saving grace. So thamks to everyone here.

I've had diagnosed arthritic knees for several years and two old surgeries on one of them. I've always refused the injections and PT was no help. The pain and swelling comes and goes. I just felt it was something which had to be lived with and was common for a 72 year man. Lately, though, my knees are really giving me trouble and painful walking, getting in and out of vehicles, etc. I've read where men with very bad looking knee xrays have no pain. So I'm wondering if my knees are TMS or a structural problem which could be fixed. I think Dr. Sarno mentions knee replacement surgery is sometimes recommended. Would anyone have suggestions concerning this.

 

Have you had x-rays or an MRI? That's step one. Assuming your knee is structurally sound, then it's most likely TMS. I'm only 41 and am currently dealing with TMS. Like you, my first bout with TMS occurred in my lower back. Sarno's book fixed it. But it recently reared it's ugly head in the form of knee pain. In both cases, all of my x-rays were negative and the doctors couldn't figure out what was wrong with me. That's because there is NOTHING structurally wrong with my body. I have TMS and it's in my head. Fixing my back was as easy as reading a book. I'm going to read the book again and hope for the same results with my knees.

 

I've had xrays several times over the years with the latest about a year ago. Each time I was told I have advanced osteoarthritis. However, I wasn't much bothered with it. Lately, though, their very stiff and walking is painful. Anyway, the knee problem doesn't compare with the intensity of the sciatica. I'm talking to the knee pain so I'll see how it goes.

 

Hi, Danny. When you talk to your knee pain, be sure to tell it loud and clear that you truly believe it is caused by TMS emotion and not from anything structural. At times, we need to read again Dr. Sarno's 12 Daily Reminders:


Herbie’s Extended Version of Dr. Sarno’s 12 DAILY REMINDERS

1. The pain is due to TMS. This is real pain or anxiety but it is caused by subconscious tensions and triggers, stressors and traits to your reactions and fears and also when at boiling point your conscious tension can and does also cause real pain.
2. The main reason for the pain is mild oxygen deprivation. This means that when you get in pain or anxiety then the blood is restricted from going to your lower back, for instance. The blood being restricted causes oxygen deprivation which causes the pain. Remember, where there is no oxygen then there is pain in the body. Also, the pain stays because of fear.
3. TMS is a harmless condition caused by my REPRESSED EMOTIONS so even though you think you can harm yourself from the years of pain you have felt and how you feel in general -- so far no reports have been heard from TMS healing knowledge causing damage to anyone, it only helps.
4. The principle emotion is your repressed ANGER -- this means under your consciousness lies something that happens automatically to everyone. TMSers have repressions that are stored because of our personality traits, traumas, stressors, fears, strain, etc... When these stored repressions build and build, then eventually they cause the brain to send pain into your body to keep you from having an emotional crises. The mind-body thinks it is helping you.
5. TMS exists to DISTRACT your attentions from the emotions, stressors, tensions and strains of your personality traits because if you can get distraction then you won’t have to be in emotional turmoil. When you don't face and feel your emotions and they get repressed because you didn't want to deal with something -- they are just adding up in this beaker, ready to pour over and create real pain and anxiety in your body.
6. Since my body is perfectly normal, there is nothing to fear. So in reality when I fear the pain or anxiety I just cause myself undo strain and tension adding to the beaker of pain. If I fear, then I feed the pain, If I fear, it’s impossible to recondition. Fear keeps the pain and anxiety alive in the body through focus.
7. Therefore, physical activity is harmless. If I want to work against the pain I could but it’s better to lose some of the pain so when I start my life over I have to be in pain trying to heal because facing the repressions and all the other activities that cause the pain and reversing my fear and focus to them, then I can heal.
8. I am resuming all normal physical activity. I don't fear moving anymore. I believe in my body’s ability to heal now. I can move as I want. I will not fear moving with a bent back anymore. I will also practice going out and acting normal again, not in fear of what pain might do to me.
9. The pain is unimportant and powerless. Its only power is how it is hidden -- its illusion, its fear.
10. I will keep my attention on the emotional issues. I will think about my emotions and feel my emotions throughout the day. I will not judge, criticize or fear my emotions. I will not run from my emotional issues but face every one of them. I will feel my emotions fully and cry if I need to. Then I will release the emotion and get my mind and thoughts back to my life and living in the present.
11. I am in control of all of this. This is how I recover.
12. I will be thinking PSYCHOLOGICALLY AT ALL TIMES. This means I will keep my thoughts on psychological issues like happiness, fear and anger -- traits and triggers, conditioning and journaling -- The science behind mind-body/TMS healing, etc.... This way I will not feed my thoughts to the body -- that is a trick of TMS. TMS will always try to get me to focus on the body caused by the pain until I break its show and flair. When I get my attention off physical symptoms and on to emotional issues and psychological issues then I will not feed the fear of the physical issues anymore, thus making the TMS of no pain effect on the body. This will in return, give us the cure and become pain-free.

 

Thanks for that Walt. In the past I've always just listened to what I was being told about my knees and that I should do the injections, medications and at some point get the knee replacements. I haven't done any of that so far and don't plan to. I haven't thought about TMS when it came to the knees but form now on that's what I plan to do. I've been examined a number of times and always just told it was arthritis. Thanks again.