All the Rage Film What crazy things have you done to manage pain!?

Hi Caroline,

I mentioned some on the other thread, but you could also go down the lines of what larger corporations are producing to elevaite pain....

1) Ergonomic keyboards and mice (for RSI sufferers). I know back in 2007 I purchased these items.
2) A silicone type mouse mat, so my wrist would be comfortable and I wouldn't feel any pain. Totally unnecessary now I look back on it.
3) A special foam pillow, so my shoulders wouldn't hurt, it didn't give me any relief whatsoever and was uncomfortable as hell, but someone thought it helped.
4) An expensive chair to help with my back, most large Corporations are obsessed in getting the most expensive chairs to ensure employees don't get bad backs.
5) Desk Assessments - lots of organisations are infatuated with giving desk assessments, while I appreciate it needs to be done from a comfort stand point, the underlying reason is that someone doesn't develop RSI or a back injury in the work place. Again, when we get this, we are all instilled with that element of fear that we could develop RSI, carpel tunnel, neck pain etc etc.
6) A mattress - I know when I had back pain, I purchased a firm mattress thinking it would be better for my back, when in fact it doesn't really matter if it was soft or firm, because the problem wasn't with my back. I was merely consumed with the idea that it might be.
7) Back support belts - I have tried this aswell and no relief :)
8) Plantar fasciitis - so glad I have discovered Sarno and didn't buy any shoes for this. But unfortunately most people have.

Like pharmaceutical companies, non medicinal organisations have seen an opening to cash in on the MBS/TMS market and produce aids. shops are popping up everywhere to help us manage the pain enforce the idea in our mind that we may have something structurally wrong and the myth is again re-enforced in everyone's mind.

I just googgled RSI and have found the following - http://www.rsi-shop.co.uk/default.asp
The back shop - http://www.thebackshop.co.uk/
Plantar fasciitis - http://www.nextag.co.uk/best-shoes-for-plantar-fasciitis/stores-html

You could probably create a comic super- hero called TMS Man? anyone have any suggestions? , where he is equipped with the various aids to find relief and battle through his pain and do his daily chores. I am thinking he could have special shoes, a back belt, a wrist band for his hand, a band for his elbow, his knee etc.

Just a few things to think about, perhaps someone would like to add?
 
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At the worst of my back pain around the age of 27 I was wanting to become a professional wrestler so I would go and take falls, That means in a sense I was letting other people pick me up in the air and slam me on my back, on the hard georgia clay which felt like a rock of granite.

In my mind ( even though it was excruciating) this was a way I was going to strengthen my back :) -- fighting physically against the pain. Now I did get better doing this for a short while because I was facing the fear of the pain head on but it only lasted a short while as I wasn't addressing the anger and rage or perfestionist personalty traits that were unconscious and below the surface.

I also did every stretch known to man, I was as limber as a rubber band but in as much pain as ever.
 
I am thinking for the cartoon/comic strip - maybe make him a superhero , 'TMS Man' or 'Tension Man - a fighter of pain', equipped with aids, special shoes, belt for his back etc etc. But at the end of the comic he must unravel the mystery to be free of pain and make the psychological connection :). Obviously incorporating the points we all mentioned in the previous post.
 
Well Caroline, if you are talking really crazy - and embarrassing - I once walked around with amethyst crystals in my bra because a healer told me this would eradicate my migraine headaches. Hint for those with TMS migraine symptoms: Don't bother trying this.
 
Oh here's a good one: I wrapped tight "compression straps" around my hand and left them there for about 30 secs to a min to "increase blood flow" to the injured areas and heal them by cutting off circulation and then allowing it to resume. This is becoming more popular in the fitness industry, often called "flossing."
 
These have been terrific so far. For mine, I think I'll use pictures.

One of my sensitive areas was my neck, which hurt whenever I looked down, like when I worked at a desk or read a book. My doctors told me that the pain happened because of "repetitive strain," which meant to me that the only way to heal was to stop "straining myself" by avoiding the activities that hurt.

So.... no looking down..... hmmm....

What if I could look forward and see down, though?

Enter the prism glasses. As crazy as they were, I still think they are the coolest little gadget.

Note that the prisms fell out, so what you see in the photo is little strips of duct tape holding the prisms on the frame. Yes, the universe really is held together by duct tape.
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"Why do my hands hurt all of the time, I asked myself," back in the day. Maybe it's because when I sleep I use them to prop up my head. Maybe this impedes the blood flow and prevents the tendons and synovial sheathes from healing. If I could stop that, maybe I'd get better?

But how do I change my behavior when I'm sleeping. I mean... I'm sleeping.

Perhaps if I could make it painful to put pressure on my hands when I sleep. If I attach really hard and spikey buttons to the back of my hands, maybe I'll unconsciously shift my weight off my hands while I sleep...

Not surprisingly, it didn't work...

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Hi, Mike.
I have an impressive collection of back support belts I bought before discovering TMS.
They didn't do me any good. I healed with TMS from knowing my repressed emotions and
modifying my perfectionist and goodist personalities. I don't think the belts could help anyone
so I won't put them in my next charity clothing stuff. I'll just toss them in the trash.

Good luck on everything. Stay in touch.
 
Let's see - yb44, my doc (with a shrug) told me about some person selling amethyst mattress covers for chronic pain sufferers. ("It's pretty expensive," he said.) I betcha if I was the one selling those puppies, my financially induced TMS symptoms would be gone in a wink. ;):p (And no, I didn't purchase one.)

A special hell I endured for my TMS calf pain….dry needling. This is when the voodoo witchdoctor (otherwise known as a PT with special training), inserts a needle directly into the muscle knot. The torture session ends when the visible spasming (as evidence by the twitching and bent needle) is then pulled out of the muscle. If you weren't limping coming to the session, you were when you were leaving. :hurting: The red "I've been crying" eyes makes for an especially pathetic look to other waiting patients as you depart.

BTW- This was effective for maybe a day or two. And then you went back for more. :eek:

Maybe I should have tried that amethyst mattress. hahahaha
 
Erma Bombeck once said "There is a thin line that separates laughter and pain, comedy and tragedy, humor and hurt."

I've been hovering around that thin line as I've contemplated this topic. Like so many of you, I have been through some pretty awful stuff in search of relief from my diagnoses of fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome. I could write a book about it. It's brought back some painful memories, but I eventually found a place of humor to land on.

So not necessarily the worst, but one I can find humor in today, is that I went through the fitting and adjusting to the use of a Mandibular Advancement Device (MAD). This is an expensive, custom made dental device worn during sleep that gradually (through tightening screws, I kid you not) advances the lower jaw forward in order to increase the airway, and therefore the oxygen, that one breathes in during sleep. This is a device often prescribed to people with sleep apnea who are not successful using a CPAP device (I won't go into the torture that this involves, but yes, I tried it too).

So what does this have to do with treating fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue, you ask? Well, I went to an expensive, nationally renowned fibromyalgia expert who decided that I had a sleep disorder that was causing my pain and fatigue. My sleep study didn't show sleep apnea, but I was somehow convinced that I could possibly have it anyway, and there weren't really any other treatments for my "sleep disorder" available.

But I started using it with hope it would help, only to find out a few weeks later that it was causing my teeth to move out of alignment. This "side effect" was in the small print of the pros and cons of the device, but when you are desperate it's easy to disregard these types of warnings.
 
OMGosh, Ellen, you brought back memories! (Cue to Barbara Streisand….)

I had one of those wicked little devices. I did have a sleep study and it showed slight sleep apnea. My big issue was waking up from pain. I showed sleep efficiency at something like 50%. And yeah, we had that chicken or the egg discussion so I thought maybe, just maybe, a better night's sleep would fix the fibroymyalgia. It didn't. :arghh:

And speaking of nighttime pain, I just received an email from Dr. Schubiner when I asked about a recent round of severe nighttime pain. He said, "Waking up at night with that pain is clearly TMS!"

That stupid device ($700!) did nothing but make me look like this guy:
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:D@North Star , you got off cheap! Mine was about $3500, but fortunately my health insurance covered it. No wonder health care costs are sky high!

Nothing can make you feel attractive in bed like wearing one of those devices.:borg:

Sorry to bring up a bad memory. :oops: But I appreciate the humor of the photo you found. :joyful:

Oh, and I just have to say "thank you Dr. Sarno", that I don't have to endure these kind of "treatments" anymore.
 
I just visited with a friend of mine, a mainstream health professional, who works with "cutters". She is researching how to help them by cutting them in safe ways that will relive their intense psychic pain without causing severe side effects like infections, death, etc.

She is smart lady, very sincere and excited about her project. I am trying to introduce her to tms theory but so far it hasn't impressed her much. It's "uh huh, we all know about the mind/body connection". I think some of us believe that, to be effective, the solution needs to be as off extreme as the problem.

I did invite her to check out this site and she would be interested in this thread.
 
OMGosh, Njoy…that sounds just awful. Have you read Dr. Schubiner's stuff where he talks about how cutters don't actually feel the pain they are in inflicting. (As evidenced by fMRI studies.)

I hope your friend can open her mind to a TMS approach to treating cutters. Schubiner's Unlearn Your Pain program would be especially helpful for them. (I still can't get my mind around that behavior. :()
 
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