Stretching helps! Is it counterproductive?

F

fleurry

New Member
This is just based on my experience. I know that one shouldn't treat TMS physically but I admit I can't help but do massages and trigger point therapy on myself sometimes but through it all, I always believed my symptoms are TMS. It gives me some relief and somehow helps in lessening the trigger points in my muscles. However, my pain always comes back when I'm highly anxious or when I get tired. Just now I thought why not stretch my muscles? I stretch all those painful and tight muscles and after a few days, it made a huge difference. It helped lessen the pain. It also relaxes me while doing the stretches and I feel more balanced.
Do you guys think it's ok to do so? Do you have the same experience?
 
Dr Sarno says in his books that doing exercise, as a way to keep healthy is encouraged. I guess it depends if in your mind you are using it as a placebo, or you are seeing it as an exercise of wellbeing to be done with or without TMS. In the road of getting rid of TMS I guess it is ok to use some placebos, as long as they dont actually makes you hang on to them and get more TMS. Yoga is essentially an exercise of stretching and many people practice it with benefits. It all depends on you. It wont be the same for someone that gets it as their only method of dealing with TMS and develop a dependency of a particular placebo.
 
fleurry said:
This is just based on my experience. I know that one shouldn't treat TMS physically but I admit I can't help but do massages and trigger point therapy on myself sometimes but through it all, I always believed my symptoms are TMS. It gives me some relief and somehow helps in lessening the trigger points in my muscles. However, my pain always comes back when I'm highly anxious or when I get tired. Just now I thought why not stretch my muscles? I stretch all those painful and tight muscles and after a few days, it made a huge difference. It helped lessen the pain. It also relaxes me while doing the stretches and I feel more balanced.
Do you guys think it's ok to do so? Do you have the same experience?
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This is fine! The answer from Joe above is definitely true...stretching is perfectly fine as long as you don't think it will cure you. It's all in how you think about it. Using some methods for temporary relief is no problem, just keep at your TMS healing strategies too. I always compare it to taking Tylenol for a fever-often much needed relief but not addressing the root cause.
 
Thanks guys! That's what I'm trying to do, practicing some stretches to improve my well-being but also keeping in mind the ways in battling TMS. I don't think I'm capable of strenuous exercises just yet but I'm kinda of preparing myself by doing this. I know it helps but I don't rely solely to just that. I also have some anxiety issues aside from my pain so I learned doing deep breathing and Dr. Claire Weekes' suggestions in battling anxiety. Although at times, I try not to force myself to always do this so as not to pressure myself, just taking things slow.
 
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