Mind Body Medicine dealing with pain.

It is a soft tissue condition that can involve the muscles, ligaments, and nerves of the back and neck. The pain in TMS is caused or worsened by tension and in most cases, can be eliminated by a mental process that involves focusing on the emotional, rather than the physical. Now this is a strong statement and I want to repeat it.  Some people are more prone to these disorders than others--back pain may be more likely, for instance, in people who are perfectionistic, self-critical, and highly responsible for others. People with chronic back pain are often suffering from a mind-body disorder known as TMS, or Tension Myositis Syndrome, a diagnosis that is relatively unknown in both the medical and alternative communities.  This condition can be treated with daily mindfulness practices, autonomic nervous system balancing.  Our office utilizes daily reminders repeated throughout the day and upper cervical (C1-C2) mobilization and adjustments.  We are the premier Lake Tahoe Office working with the mind-body connection and inner healing wisdom.  Please call for a office tour or visit.  530-577-5433  

Tension Myositis Syndrome--describes a very common problem --back and neck pain--and redefines it as physical pain with roots in emotional tension. This syndrome was first theorized by Dr. John Sarno at NYU's Rusk Institute. In the late 1970's and early 1980's he described in detail a theory, involving the connections between emotions, the brain, the limbic system, and the autonomic nervous system that generates this process. The end products is painful tissue that causes local pain (trigger points, areas of spasm) and sometimes distant pain (sciatica,etc.). The cure is educational and psychological and highly effective in most patients.

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You are familiar with migraine headaches and stomach ulcers being related to stress/anxiety. Start applying this same type of thinking to your physical pain and you are on the right track. When emotions (energy) are repressed they create blockages in our system. This allows our normal free flowing energy to become stuck and stored in our muscle and nerve tissue. The biochemical process taking place is called oxygen deprivation. In this process the autonomic nervous system will selectively decrease blood flow to muscle and nerve tissue. Blood flow is closely regulated by emotional peptides, which signal receptors on blood vessels walls to constrict or dilate, and this influences the amount and velocity of blood (oxygen) flowing through them from moment to moment. From a psychological point of view, emotional energy has been repressed and is causing inner tension throughout our autonomic nervous system.


In these pain disorders since the  physical pain is not attributed to mechanical or physical dysfunctions,  but rather it is caused by the person's feelings, personality, and their subconscious state.  Emotions and  mental  activity that generate  physical pain are fear, anger, guilt, frustration, worry, resentment, people pleasing, being perfect and highly competitive and overly self-conscious. In these pain disorders the people who are highly likely to create physical pain through inner tension have personality traits similar to the Type A. 

These personality characteristics interact with stressful life situations, which, then initiates the physical pain cycle. Our mind, as a defense strategy will repress emotional energy into the subconscious so that we will not be aware of these feelings or experience them. This repression causes inner tension in our nervous system, which initiates a biochemical change in our muscles, nerves and tendons. These changes create pain, which our mind is using as a distraction strategy so that we will focus our attention on the body and away from disagreeable thoughts and emotions.

This intense conflict is now erupting in our body & mind. The tension from this inner conflict will eventually erupt as a concentrated experience of pain. Blood flow as been chronically constricted depriving our tissue of oxygen.

Our intention is to heal, to get rid of the pain disorder. We do this by keeping the information, our energy and emotions, flowing freely and communicating within and about our body & mind systems in a balanced, open, efficient way. When we do this we no longer have energy being stored, blocked and stuck. When our system is open and free, we have linked our psyche (thought, emotion and spirit) to our physical bodies (molecules, cells and tissue) in a free flowing exchange and simulation of the information energy.

This requires a daily practice of emotional and present moment awareness. A waking, working mindfulness of who we are being.

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Daily Reminders are repeated for 5-10 minutes daily.

1. The pain is due to TMS, not to a structural abnormality.
2. The direct reason for the pain is mild oxygen deprivation.
3. TMS is a harmless condition, caused by my repressed emotions
4. The principle emotion is my repressed anger.
5. TMS exists only to distract my attention from the emotions.
6. Since my back is basically normal there is nothing to fear.
7. Therefore, physical activity is not dangerous.
8. And I must resume all normal physical activity
9. I will not be concerned or intimidated by the pain
10. I will shift my attention from the pain to emotional issues.
11. I intend to be in control—not my subconscious mind
12. I must think psychological at all times, not physical