Tight Hamstring

Just wondering if anyone else has had to endure the tight hamstring pain as part of their TMS.

Whilst I've been struggling with the left sided lower back pain and upper leg pain for about 3 years now about 8 months ago my left hamstring decided to tighten and cramp up and has never really released itself...this is also coupled with a deep ache in the left buttock ala pirifomis syndrome. Why this would happen about 2 and a half years into the pain was a mystery to me.

Whilst I can obviously find many TMS stories relating to LBP and sciatica etc I can't find much relating to tight hamstring on one side. My TMS practioner has examined me and has agreed that that my left side is far tighter than the right but has attributed this to me tensing and bracing that side on an unconscious level as a protective mechanism against that pain...does this make sense?

Something else I was thinking on was a conversation I had around Christmas time with a GP who mentioned that chronic back or hip pain etc didn't really make sense from a structural perspective if the patient still had correct reflexes and range of movement etc...any one know the truth of this?

Thanks for any input.

 

I haven't had tight hamstring problems but it appears to me to be another symptom of TMS,
and your doctor was probably right that it comes from tensing and bracing the left side becauce
you fear it will cause pain.

Keep journaling and reflecting on repressed emotions.

Steve Ozanich says try to ignore pain and keep active to take your mind off of it.

 

Thanks for the reply Walt.

Yeah, I know that chronic piriformis is generally seen as a no brainer for TMS and for me the tight hamstring has gone hand in hand with that.

Like I've mentioned my issues just seem to revolve around the left lower back left hip and hamstring...it's quite hard not to get hung up on the type of pain you feel and compare it to others, ie is it pain or just discomfort? Is it muscular or nerve? Is it tightness or soreness? I know I'm falling into the trap of overanalysing the symptoms and type of pain but it's incredibly easy to do...I suppose that is the nature of the beast.

 

Definitely absolutely emphatically relentless hamstring pain, and deep glute-pain. Hamstring tight. Hamstring cramp. Hamstring ache. Hamstring burn. Poke fingers into my glutes and I'll yelp. Or chew on the offending fingers

I just keep practicing my yoga, and let them do what they are going to do. If a by product is a release of muscle clench, great. If it doesn't happen, I don't worry too much about it anymore. I do nurture my body, though. Gentle touches, and speaking to it as I would a nervous child (yes, sometimes speaking aloud. My husband often checks if I am speaking to him, or to myself, and then apologizes if he interrupted my self talk *smiles*).

We all need nurturing and touch. It is vital for our health on all levels.

Just breathe, and know you are safe and keep your faith strong.

with grace and gratitude,
^_^

 

Thanks Lily Rose

Yeah...I'm trying that self talk as well. I've read that the unconscious if just like a nervous child or mischievous chimp that often needs both reassuring and controlling in equal measure.

You have also sort of inadvertently touched on something that I believe is a stumbling block for me in accepting the TMS/nonstructural explanation for my pain and that is that I appear not to have any trigger points as such.

I actually went for a couple of deep tissue massages about 3 weeks ago (a week apart) and whilst they felt good they didn't really relieve my pain or tightness to huge degree. The girl mainly concentrated her efforts on my glutes and hamstring but I didn't feel any pain or discomfort. With the piriformis thing I always have a deep ache located deep in my left buttock and whilst it feels like a constant bruise it is never that painful to the touch. The girl who did the deep tissue massage actually mentioned how high my pain threshold was as she said that she was used to seeing most people complaining or grimacing. This concerns me as everything I've ever read about TMS indicates that patients always have at least one trigger point but this doesn't seem to be the case with me...certainly in not a location in which I feel my pain anyway. Bit confused by that.

 

Huckleberry, once my harmstrings were so tight that I had visible lumps and knots in the size of a table tennis ball. Accopanied by deep nagging piriformos/glute-pain and sciatica. Went away only to be replaced by severe elbow- and shoulder pain. So what medicals told me was due to an accident when I was ten clearly seemed to be the good old TMS. I had lots of nasty trigger points, too. They were not palpaple as easy because they're in the deeper layers of the glute muscles (and there's already some research reclaiming that the whole trigger-point stuff is maybe a "theoretical construct", lacking evidence. I guess that's possible and maybe you won't have these trigger points. What I wanted to say is, that even if there are these knotty spots they're only a physical manifestation of TMS due to oxygen deprivation. My doc tends to stick a very long needle into my piriformis (ouch!), then the "trigger point" twiched and disappeared. Only to pop up again a few hours later! If there's oxigen deprivation in the tissues due to tms you cand dry needle and massage as crazy, that won't help! I was also told to have an extreme high pain threshold, they sometimes poked into my muscles and afterwads I looked like I was maltreated. Since I know about TMS I stay away from all forms of physical (mis-)treatment!

 

huckleberry, I was about to make a post like this!
How annoying is it, i have a gradual tight hamstring on my right side, never my left it never cramps but it's like you can feel its not free. Stretching does nothing for it and scans clear me for any nerve involvement. also massages, acupuncture don't do anything. The only thing that is really left is mild oxygen deprivation. sometimes it even feels normal for a while which is heaven, so yes i have it not painful though but its uncomfortable!

 

TMS, TMS, TMS! Yup! It's all TMS. Muscle tightness. Cramps. Knots. I've had it in every limb in my body (including piriformis syndrome). And up and down my spine.

My TMS symptom du jour is a return of the tight calf. Like Birdie, I treated this at one time with dry needling - a special type of hell. The fact that it brings relief for a short period of time illustrates it is merely a placebo. I think the exquisite pain of dry needling also illustrates how we will reach for self-punishing treatments. (Mind you, not all the dry needling was so horrible but more often than not, my twitching muscles bent the needles and left me limping for the next day.)

I listen to Dr. Sarno's book…knowledge and brain re-training is what's going to bring healing. And like Lily Rose, gentle self talk when needed.

You're on the right path, Huckleberry! BTW, the fact that you're not finding any trigger points tells me TMS is doing it's same ole creative maneuvers. You "know" you should have trigger points so your brain makes sure that symptom isn't present to keep you doubting the diagnosis.

 

So long as I am conscious, no one will ever insert a foreign object into my body unless there is a catastrophic event, or for extenuating circumstances I need blood drawn (as in for life insurance). They actually do not even touch me during check-ups, except for temp, oxygen and blood pressure (which always hurts). This last time, she did listen to my breathing and heart, but her approach was not abrupt.

Many many years ago, I required a filling, and root-cleaning (really?) and I refused the injection. At first they were reluctant, but willing to try. I endured the pain without moving, or even twitching.

I do understand the reason for this. However, it also isn't something I intend to compromise upon. It is rather liberating to have the power of No. And shockingly, I have learned that the 'yearly exam' is actually not even necessary (my PA told me this), unless there is strong concern of issues. It makes me consider Walt and his refusal to go to the dentist. I'm in his corner. Good hygiene can be practiced on your own. As with doctors, dentists are useful in emergencies.

You are very brave, all of you!

with grace and gratitude,
^_^

 

I'm reminded of the famous actor Sir Lawrence Olivier. During a check up for insurance purposes for a film he was actually found to have cancer. Upon being told his reply was to say "don't be so silly I'm far too busy to have cancer" and he refused treatment and carried on working in films and plays at a furious rate. He lived on for many years and died of an unrelated illness at the age of 82. He was once attributed to have remarked to a colleague who had asked him why he didn't go to the doctors for checks ups "dear boy never go to the doctors, they just diagnose things"

 

Lily Rose, It's been a while since I've had a full check up. I generally avoid them because I usually say NO to most of their tests and they don't like that too much. My present doc has been good because he'll let me call the shots but still let me have scripts if I need any. (Which thankfully, I am no longer on any regular meds like Lyrica.)

Huckleberry, that's quite a story about Olivier! Love it! Another great example about the mindbody and how being in love with one's life is good for one's health.

What I aspire to right now it to quit battling TMS and be so happily immersed with what I'm doing that my profession is like Olivier's.

 

Have you ever trying rolling out the muscle? I learned the trick in physical therapy (I know PT is bad), but hear me out. I used to roll my muscles because I thought they were broken, now I roll them out because I find it meditative and relaxing. Get a foam roller, a hard medicine ball, a 4 " PVC pipe, a lacross ball or tennis ball (whatever you have that feels good on you).

By good, I mean it'll hurt like hell at first. Roll the muscle out on the implement, but while you do it, try talking your self through it.

I'm anxiety prone, but rolling on the foam roller is methodical, so I normally say stuff like, "Back and forth, back and forth". It's simple and keeps me in the moment and I relax. Then I try to picture "good stuff" going into the muscle I'm rolling. So I'll say something like, "all this new blood with oxygen is flowing into you right now, so you can stop hurting.... back and forth..... back and forth." Sometimes, I picture other, more abstract things helping my muscles, like water from the ocean or white light. Whatever my mind picks as it's "healing representative" for the session, I go with. Sometimes, I say, "Look at all my muscles working together to do this."

Most of the time, I'm not fancy though and just go with "back and forth".

Only roll out for as long as you want. I don't keep track of time, just whatever feels right. Then I follow it up with some stretches; I just do all the ones I can think of. However, while you do it, breath deep and relax into each stretch. Try to only think about the stretches. I normally say stuff like, "Now, my quads are relaxing. Now, my calves are relaxing".

Follow that routine up with a bit of mindful meditation and a hot shower and you're good to go!

You're super tense like I was so its going to hurt, but if you keep at it, it'll hurt less each day.

Never give up!

 

Huckleberry, found this post b/c I just searched "hamstring". Basically, you described most of my symptoms !!!
And All, thanks for these responses, really helpful and comforting.

Just want to tell my story and where I am...

A relief to find the thread as the hamstring is driving me nuts and causing me to doubt the TMS... which there is no question 110% is what
is going on with me...

before I started with really delving into TMS I got regular massages b/c I was in such acute pain. I found myself after many months
"cured" - the therapist finally hit on a spot in the offending hamstring and said it made sense that tiny tiny tears in a muscle then adhere to something or other and get stuck and tight and finally released it. She said its no big deal and can come back etc. So since the pain is the same as before, I'm making myself miserable thinking I need to run get a massage to fix the muscle "adhesion" which must have come back. Basically thinking, ok I've got TMS but can fix at least this part with a massage.

I think I tricked my brain for just a bit, bc it all just came back with more force and now the massage "trick" just wont work. And I know going for regular massage is not right for me right now because as I learned more about TMS, the massage and finding and releasing the "spots" stopped working. At my last massage a while ago, my body actually cramped up viciously before and after. In fact, the therapist felt the usual "spots" and they were not tight yet I FELT terrible tightness and pain. Amazing what the pain pathways and brain can do.

I know I'm still too focused on my body to just have a relaxing silent massage, yet cant stop the gerbil wheel of my brain from going back and forth about setting one up! As I'm sure you know, its excruciating. It is waking me up very early in the morning, getting back to sleep is hard and I'm exhausted.

I've got the usual L5/S1 thing and it seems to originate in an area that got banged in a fender bender a few years ago where during the experience (not after) I felt the same tail area pain that came back when TMS flared.

I have to keep telling myself that a structural problem could not POSSIBLY cause the myriad of left side symptoms that change daily, sometimes hourly: burning, tight twisted feeling, calf, hamstring, glute, numbness, tingling, sitting pain, standing pain, walking pain... yet of course some spine dr in a white coat has of course told me L5/S1 is the cause of all... Note, before the MRI another dr said it was L3L4!

Fortunately a TMS dr has CORRECTLY diagnosed me.... But then I realized they all had only looked at my lumbar spine and not tailbone... so more doubts....gerbil wheel . It seems the point of the pain is to make me doubt the TMS! What a crazy cycle!

 

Looks like a lot of people have tight hamstring problems.
I don't doubt TMS. I doubt doctors and medical tests.
TMS healed my back pain when nothing else did.
I discovered I held repressed anger and feelings of insecurity
since I was a boy of 7 and my parents divorced.

Dr. Sarno says we just have to discover our repressed emotion(s),
we don't have to resolve our emotional problems in order to heal.

 

I realize this is an older thread. Great info. I myself have very tight hamstrings and calfs. Long walks pain in glutes. Piriformis pain. Low back heavy pinching. I have not worked in 4 weeks. I am a plumber. I do not have to a tms doctor.

 

Yes. My right hamstring went. Couldn’t walk, sit or sleep. Cortisone after cortisone after cortisone. Did nothing really. Then it got better. Then my left hamstring went. About 2 years ago. Slowly getting better as I tackle TMS. Been doing so for about 8 months now. Did the Schribener exercise where I asked my hamstring why it hurt. It was connected to my perfectionism. So I accepted that 10+ years of pain couldn’t be resolved in a few months. Within a week my hamstring eased up 20-30% and continues to get better. I was trying too hard to be perfect at TMS recovery. Right piriformis has been agony for years. Some days. No pain. Some days. Agony. So I tell it to bugger off. It eases. I will win. TMS you are so gone.

 

And don’t doubt the TMS diagnosis. Then your brain will feed on your fear and doubt. I journal every night and when the pain is really bad my journal is full of large, angry writing and insanely offensive swearing. When I wake up, a lot of the pain is gone. Yes, go with acceptance, and leaning in and mindfulness. But when necessary, get angry, really angry. Not at you, at the pain. Make it afraid of you, not the other way around.

 

Yes, definitely!
This could help

https://audioboom.com/posts/7173184-057-kevin-martillo-viner-phd?fbclid=IwAR1CxclQBTuxw9OumREHNhwRIcY_2wKTHcUQa5bW77_fiUvHT897Bv7T8NA (Audioboom / 057 - Kevin Martillo Viner, PhD)

 

Yes I too have really sore hamstrings which also goes into the buttocks and down the leg, and back! It started with power walking on the treadmill on high inclines 3-4 days a week and my hamstring kept getting more and more sore until I finally went to a sports specialist who pressed it out with therapeutic massage and said that my hamstring was probably compensating for my buttocks which wasn't properly engaging because I sit all day at work. It didn't get a lot better working with her and then I went to an Orthopedic surgeon who took an xray and nothing showed up. I haven't completely stopped working out but it still hurts a lot. Btw, I had back issues long ago and was completely healed once I realized it was tms. There's just a part of me with the hamstring that thinks I just over did it on the treadmill and didn't give it proper rest and made it worse. The doctor said also that hamstrings take a really long time to heal. Does this sound like overuse or tms? Would love to hear some experience from you guys.

 

I have several tight areas in my body which makes it hard walking. I tried EVERYTHING and nothing worked. This is TMS, so I don't think about it in terms with physical. I think "what am I feeling"? It's been like this for over two years. I've gotten rid of a lot of the pain, but this is the symptom that is stubborn. I just have to be patient, and I skim over people talking about their symptoms because I lose progress when I think of any of these symptoms are physical!!