3 Ways to Identify Pain That’s Caused by Repressed Stress
Chronic back pain is one of the most common and frustrating ailments.
Few things are worse than a sore back. It can make everything from moving to staying still very uncomfortable and often painful.
True relief can only be achieved if and when the root cause of your pain is identified. This is where things sometimes get tricky. Healthcare professionals categorize chronic back pain as one of the most frequently seen musculoskeletal issues in health care. And although they repeatedly treat it as a physical ailment, some have realized that often there is more at play. There are times that a person’s pain is more than a physical problem; more than a problem that solely involves the muscles, bones, joints or nerves.
In the 1970s, Dr. John Sarno proposed the idea that not all pain is caused by a physical issue. He introduced tension myositis syndrome (or TMS). TMS is based on the premise that not all pain is purely physical in nature, and chronic pain could be linked to repressed psychological or emotional stress that is directly causing muscle tension.
Spotting Signs of Repressed Stress
It’s rare to receive a chronic back pain diagnosis documenting the cause as TMS. Unfortunately, the bulk of the mainstream medical community fails to recognize it as a valid diagnosis, and they do not endorse related treatment methods. However, Dr. Mehmet Oz, Andrew Weil, and other alternative care health professionals have given TMS attention. According to Dr. Sarno, when TMS is accurately diagnosed and treated, the approximate cure rate is 85 percent. Here’s how you can spot the signs of repressed stress pain:
- Emotional Triggers: Repressed anger or anxiety are major causes of TMS. Triggers can involve everything from highly emotional encounters to pain occurring directly after a sound, smell, or sight.
- Known Symptoms: Documented TMS symptoms include recurring and intermittent back pain, stiffness, tingling sensations, numbness, and weakness in the affect area. Discomfort in other neighboring parts of the body is common, including the neck, arms, jaw, wrists, and knees.
- Periods of Relief: It’s common for symptoms to decrease after a vacation or other form of relaxation. Once back to the daily grind, symptoms can rapidly reoccur and they are not contingent on physical activity.
The core treatment is education. Once a proper diagnosis is issued, you can begin to recover. Regardless of whether you’re experiencing acute or sporadic back pain, a trained chiropractor can help. Chiropractors treat joint misalignments that cause muscle tension as well as sharp and pulling pain. It is well known to us that these misalignments in the body often stem from three major influences in our lives: trauma, toxins and thoughts. All have a strong influence on how well our bodies are able to heal, replenish and cope with the day-to-day movements we make.
We have proven to help many of our clients feel much better so they gain a deeper sense of rest and balance. When this happens, the body is able to restore itself releasing much of the tightly held tension you have been feeling. Contact Dr. Nicole Muschett today for a complimentary consultation.
