I injured something in my hand over a decade ago while doing a construction project. I have some minor ligament laxity in one of my fingers. Occasionally, when I use my hand strenuously, the old injury acts up. What is the TMS thought on this? I'd assume that old injuries have some lasting effect, or else athletes wouldn't have their careers permanently ruined by them. Any ideas? Thanks.
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What is the TMS thinking on "old" injuries?
- Thread starter music321
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Gigalos
Beloved Grand Eagle
My personal take on this...
I have a stretched cruciate ligament (or it tore off and dissolved, simply don't know) in my knee that gives me problems sometimes. Ligament laxity from an injury can give you occasional pain or discomfort, but there is a 'real' and a TMS component.
When ligaments cannot give (enough) support to a joint, muscles and other structures have to make up for it to not dislocate or damage things. It is my believe that this is what can give you real pain, because the muscles and other structures aren't always capable of doing that for several possible reasons; they are meant for other loads, they are suddenly loaded when the muscles are off-guard, or they are simply not capable of holding the load. They start to inform the brain with sensory information with the purpose of you taking it easy so you can prevent further injury. The TMS component is that your mind/body overreacts to the signals these muscles and other structures give; the pain is more intense, muscles start to cramp up more and sooner as fear sets in (sometimes even before you even started!) and the aftermath/reaction is more intense and takes longer to resolve. So for me it is accepting the real component and minimizing the TMS component. Using my knee intensively will give a reaction, it starts to click, grind and surrounding muscles may cramp up, but it should resolve in a matter of days. Fear of using my knee (during or afterwards) always makes things worse than they should be. Being able to differ between the two components is a matter of experience and time.
So, to conclude: Yes, old injuries can have lasting effects that serve a good purpose of protecting certain structures, but TMS can make these effects much more intense than they should be.
I have a stretched cruciate ligament (or it tore off and dissolved, simply don't know) in my knee that gives me problems sometimes. Ligament laxity from an injury can give you occasional pain or discomfort, but there is a 'real' and a TMS component.
When ligaments cannot give (enough) support to a joint, muscles and other structures have to make up for it to not dislocate or damage things. It is my believe that this is what can give you real pain, because the muscles and other structures aren't always capable of doing that for several possible reasons; they are meant for other loads, they are suddenly loaded when the muscles are off-guard, or they are simply not capable of holding the load. They start to inform the brain with sensory information with the purpose of you taking it easy so you can prevent further injury. The TMS component is that your mind/body overreacts to the signals these muscles and other structures give; the pain is more intense, muscles start to cramp up more and sooner as fear sets in (sometimes even before you even started!) and the aftermath/reaction is more intense and takes longer to resolve. So for me it is accepting the real component and minimizing the TMS component. Using my knee intensively will give a reaction, it starts to click, grind and surrounding muscles may cramp up, but it should resolve in a matter of days. Fear of using my knee (during or afterwards) always makes things worse than they should be. Being able to differ between the two components is a matter of experience and time.
So, to conclude: Yes, old injuries can have lasting effects that serve a good purpose of protecting certain structures, but TMS can make these effects much more intense than they should be.
Steve Ozanich
TMS Consultant
This is one of the many reasons Dr. Sarno should have won the Nobel Prize in Medicine, his understanding and courageous publication of the fact that old injuries do not cause pain. Those injuries healed long ago. My old injuries all healed, people have contacted me by the thousands telling me that their old injuries healed after reading my books. These were injuries they thought were "old injuries." Once they realized their old injuries were not causing them pain they healed. It was their "thinking" that the old so-called injuries were causing them pain that was actually causing them pain; the notion only. The body heals quickly by nature's design, it does not cause pain everlasting and it never has.
Now it gets into the deeper understanding of consciousness and belief. Old injuries only cause pain if you believe they do. Those who believe they don't cause pain never have pain again. Dr. Sarno was brilliant in his understanding of this. I am witness to the truth of his observations.
I can only say what I know to be true from my own experience and nearly two decades of working with people, and that is old injuries never cause pain. Take it for what you believe. But then again as always, the questions being asked in this and other forums have already been answered in the TMS books. Seek and you will find.
SteveO
Now it gets into the deeper understanding of consciousness and belief. Old injuries only cause pain if you believe they do. Those who believe they don't cause pain never have pain again. Dr. Sarno was brilliant in his understanding of this. I am witness to the truth of his observations.
I can only say what I know to be true from my own experience and nearly two decades of working with people, and that is old injuries never cause pain. Take it for what you believe. But then again as always, the questions being asked in this and other forums have already been answered in the TMS books. Seek and you will find.
SteveO
Gigalos
Beloved Grand Eagle
I agree with Steve about that the injury itself should not give pain after it is healed, but I want to add that any resulting lack of function from the injury can be the cause for pain in the future.
An elongated ligament will not go back to its original length and if it is torn it will dissolve in the body. Although the injury itself shouldn't hurt anymore after a couple of weeks, it might be reason for pain in the future, because the body cannot heal itself to such an extent that prevents you from dislocating the joint that now lacks the necessary support. I can assure you that certain dislocations are truly painful especially when the forces are high at the moment of dislocation. Such pain serves a good purpose of preventing you to further damage your joint and the surrounding tissues. Even the most bad ass MMA fighters will tap out once they dislocate their knee, no amount of adrenaline will help them with that, I've seen it happen.
An elongated ligament will not go back to its original length and if it is torn it will dissolve in the body. Although the injury itself shouldn't hurt anymore after a couple of weeks, it might be reason for pain in the future, because the body cannot heal itself to such an extent that prevents you from dislocating the joint that now lacks the necessary support. I can assure you that certain dislocations are truly painful especially when the forces are high at the moment of dislocation. Such pain serves a good purpose of preventing you to further damage your joint and the surrounding tissues. Even the most bad ass MMA fighters will tap out once they dislocate their knee, no amount of adrenaline will help them with that, I've seen it happen.
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