Tension Myositis Syndrome, anyone?

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Is anyone familiar with this concept, called Tension Myositis Syndrome or TMS?

There is a lot of discussion and information about it online and you can Google it to learn more, but, basically, John Sarno, a doctor and former NYU professor, coined the term and believes TMS is a condition in which unconscious, repressed emotional issues cause physical pain and other symptoms. In his career, he dealt primarily with people with back and neck problems and that is mainly what he applies the TMS idea to, but he also thinks things like gastrointestinal problems, tension headaches, chronic fatigue, etc. are often physical manifestations of emotional issues, too.

His theory suggests that the unconscious mind uses the autonomic nervous system to decrease blood flow to muscles, nerves or tendons, resulting in oxygen deprivation, which is experienced as pain in the effected tissues. The idea is that the subconscious mind creates chronic physical pain as an avoidance strategy, so it will not have to deal with the emotional pain. Also, according to Sarno, emotions that are experienced on a conscious level, like feeling stressed, anxious or depressed, can aggravate chronic pain, but only subconscious repressed emotions really cause the manifestation of chronic pain in the first place.

Dr. Sarno and people who buy into his ideas believe that even when there is a structural abnormality on an x-ray or MRI, such as a herniated disc, that is not what is causing the pain. He believes that in the absence of a tumor, infection or some sort of trauma, like a broken bone, chronic musculoskeletal pain is almost always caused by TMS. There have also been peer-reviewed studies that have shown there is not as strong a correlation between imaging findings and level of pain as you might imagine.

For whatever it might be worth, I have back and neck problems myself and my x-rays show that there is a higher level of disc degeneration and osteophyte formation in my lower back than in my neck, yet I rarely have pain in my lower back and experience chronic neck pain everyday. I also know someone who had an MRI for something unrelated, only to find out when they got the MRI results that they had three herniated discs that were completely asymptomatic. I also have also known people whose pain that doctors attributed to herniated discs was so bad that they wound up having surgery for it, only to find that the surgery didn't help. Of course, none of that proves structural abnormalities in the spine don't cause pain, but it does make me curious ...

Anyhow, since Dr. Sarno believes repressed emotional problems cause chronic back pain and other conditions, he also believes that acknowledging that the source of the pain is emotional and dealing with those repressed emotions can cure chronic pain or at least help people to better manage it. Personally, I find the idea really interesting and do believe there is a strong mind-body connection when it comes to chronic pain, but am a little skeptical about some of Dr. Sarno's ideas. I was just curious as to what you guys might think and wanted to open a discussion about it.

Last edited by blueroses on 30 Dec 2012, 10:57 am, edited 1 time in total.

I have to admit I'm mainly posting in this thread because I recognize the play character behind your username.

But as for the topic of this thread, no, I haven't heard of this until now, but this is interesting because I do suffer sporadic back and neck pain at times and wonder now if this is related to the emotional struggles I have.

I think it's a big possibility, who knows.

He and everyone else. Not a new idea.

Cool.

Something else interesting that I forgot to mention is that Dr. Sarno recognized certain common traits in patients he believes suffer from TMS. These include being perfectionists, having low-self esteem, being high-strung and anxious, experiencing guilt and wanting very much to be 'good' people, having suffered childhood trauma and probably some other things I can't recall at the moment.

And, he noticed there is often some sort of emotionally taxing event that happens before the onset of their pain that reminds them on a subconscious level of their repressed emotions. For example, getting divorced or having children who grow up and move away might remind someone on a subconscious level of childhood abandonment issues.

No, the idea is not new. (Dr. Sarno is now in his 90's, I think). But, it is still considered controversial and at odds with the neuromatrix model of pain that is commonly accepted in modern Western medicine.

I am definitely a perfectionist in many ways. Can get really edgy at times. And yes, I do suffer great guilt eventually after doing something I realize I shouldn't have done. I like to think I'm unaffected by guilt, but I always get brought back to reality.

I do blow up with anger occasionally, though. Although, the rest of the time, I keep to myself emotionally. Not sure if this would still be considered emotional repression?

I'm not sure ..maybe? The thing is that even if someone consciously feels an emotion, it doesn't necessarily mean that they aren't also repressing other emotions.