TMS and Eye Strain

Hi there,

Just wanted to introduce myself and get some advice on my TMS situation. Quick background - I'm 29 and I started getting severe eye strain while using computers or reading about 5 or 6 years ago. This was way way worse than tired eyes, and most of the advice to just rest them more seemed useless. Eventually I took a total break from work and from the computer, again this didn't help. The pain and discomfort was quite extreme and caused migraines. Taking a break from work did nothing, and tons of different eye examinations showed up with nothing. At this point I couldn't even read a newspaper without triggering a migraine.

Eventually I found someone online who had solved a similar problem using eye exercises - ie daily stretches, pulling the muscles all around to reactivate tight ones. A year or so of this gave gradual improvement and allowed me to work again on a computer. Things kinda plateaued, which is when I heard of John Sarnos booked. I have read and re read the book and am seeing improvement. Currently at best I can do around 3 hours computer work without a problem - still not enough to go back to work but a massive improvement.

This week though, unfortunately it has relapsed a little, the discomfort has been quite high and it can be frustrating when I have a few bad days. I sometimes feel a bit in no mans land when its like this - I don't want to return to the physical eye exercises, as the book says that may bring the focus back onto the physical side of things, so i guess im looking for advice on my next step. Anyone else had eye related issues? Any other good books or important material for me to read?

I am trying to incorporate more time into thinking about the reasons for TMS, I have had some very stressful years in my early 20s aswell as having a lot of goodist behaviors. I am generally a happy and relaxed guy who deals with stress well, but that could just be the rational concious side of me, I do defiantly have some OCD/control freak tendencies, aswell as not really switching off my mind very well.
TMS makes alot of sense, seen as the regular medical tests didn't show anything, the pain has been chronic and severe, the pain has been random and seems to be triggered by things that don't make sense - ie. sometimes worse on a laptop, sometimes reading is fine but computer work bad, i also had similar migraines the past 4 christmases.

Also just wondering in my approach to solving this - how should I go about having my healthy computer use habits. I never used to take breaks and had bad posture. Obviously it makes sense to improve these habits and to take breaks, stretch more, relax my eyes more, but i'm concerned this is treating it as a physical problem again? Should i hold off on this sorta stuff till I see more improvement?
Quite a few questions there, but my eyes are pretty bad this week and even though i can tell theres so much good information on these forums, I can't really sit and read through it all, so apologies if these things have been covered etc

Thanks!

 

Hi Rob86:

Tired eyes and headaches sounds like TMS to me. However, due to some eye problems of my own, I have been studying vision problems. Here is a thread: http://www.tmswiki.org/forum/threads/vision-eyesight-improvement.5746/#post-45550

Not all eye exercises are created equal. Dr. Bates is the go to guy for vision problems. He is from the early 1900's however. Meir Schneider follows what Bates says, but does do a lot of exercises. I found one of his videos on eyestrain:

I think our eyes need more stimulation than computers. Walking outside and viewing the horizon can stimulate your eye in healthy ways, it's a healthy break for the eyes, and it's fun. Us TMS'ers need to be aware that we don't need to do things perfectly. We don't need to follow a perfect eye exercise plan, but maybe we can do some useful things with our eyes throughout our day.

One of Schneider's eye exercises is to cup your eyes and say words like, soft eyes. To me this is following tms protocol, the conscious mind is telling the subconscious what to do.

 

I have eye issues also. For me it comes up when I get on the highway. I've had high-speed accidents and rollovers in the past. When I have eye pain or i feel like everything is too bright or stimulating even with sunglasses I recognize that what I am truly experiencing is fear. And I remind myself that i am in a new moment in time and I connect with my heart and with the present moment.

I have a little OCD also and it inhibits my ability to read books. I will have similar eye issues. But I have a sense of what that is about for me.

Have you done any daily journaling? When you have eye pain or straining - close your eyes if you can and take a deep breath and try to FEEL in to what ELSE you are feeling

For now I recommend ingesting the mindbody information through lots of audio products. All of Sarno's books are available on audio. I also recommend audio products by Caroline Myss, Gabor Mate, and Louise Hay. I'm reading an excellent book called "All is Well" about health, mindbody phenomenon and the power of affirmations. I love it!

 

Hi Rob86,

I have not suffered eye pain like you, but so much of what you describe in your experience makes me think you have TMS. I recommend this free program at the Wiki
http://www.tmswiki.org/ppd/Structured_Educational_Program
and this
http://www.tmswiki.org/ppd/TMS_Recovery_Program

Also, you don't need to find the one exact thing that is causing your TMS. Nor do you have to fix it or change "it." Doing regular contemplation, reading Dr. Sarno, tracking the way your symptoms respond to stress, etc is very effective. So is telling yourself you are willing to feel a little more, rather than suffer physical symptoms. I think you are on your way!

Andy B.

 

Watching a computer for hours gives everyone eye strain.
It also often causes frustration, when we hit the wrong key or the
computer just decides to f--k up. That too can cause body strain, anxiety, and eye strain.

Try to take more frequent breaks from the computer.

And those small hand-held electronic devices can strain the eyes.

 

thanks for the advice everyone some interesting stuff there, going to start making my through some of this content and set daily time aside for contemplation and other exercises. Good to see such an active forum on the subject!