What is TMS? Have I Got it?

In short, you might!

In order to understand what TMS is, we first need to understand what the Mindbody is.

The Mindbody refers to the chemical interplay between our brain, peripheral nervous, endocrine and immune systems, organs and our emotional responses.

In other words, our mind and body are not separate. They function as a whole.

The key to mental and physical health is to have a regulated nervous system that enables all internal systems to flow with ease, not DIS-ease.

Working with a Pain Relief Specialist who has trained as a Mindbody Syndrome Practitioner, can uncover where and how the Mindbody is causing chronic pain in the form of Mindbody Syndrome, also known as Neuroplastic Pain and Tension Myositis/Myoneural Syndrome (TMS).

It is important that you receive the necessary science-based knowledge and understanding of what causes TMS in order to recover fully from common TMS symptoms.

TMS is often responsible for the following chronic issues:

Sciatica
Tendonitis
GERD
Frozen Shoulder
Irritable Bladder
Irritable Bowel
Fibromyalgia
Herniated Disk
Hay Fever
Addictions
Anxiety
Low-Grade Depression

What is TMS EXACTLY...and how is it science-based?

TMS is a term clinically established by expert physician and professor of rehabilitation medicine, Dr. John E. Sarno. In his definition of TMS, the word tension, refers to the repression of undesirable emotions such as fear, shame, rage and resentment. Myositis / Myoneural, refer to muscles and nerves. Syndrome, refers to a collection of symptoms.

Therefore, the abbreviated term, TMS, refers to a collection of symptoms in the form of muscle and nerve pain caused by the repression of undesirable emotions. However, further studies now reveal that TMS symptoms also include depression, anxiety, autoimmune conditions and more.

In a nutshell, TMS is a psychological condition that causes physical symptoms.
No this does NOT mean that your pain is all in your head. Quite the opposite.

Your pain is very real. However, if you have unrelenting physical or mental pain, this may preclude that your autonomic nervous system (fight or flight response) has gone into overdrive and is unleashing biochemical functions within your body that produce pain and illness.

When you suffer a physical injury like a broken bone or an emotional injury, such as abuse from a partner or caregiver, your autonomic nervous system activates. It will protect you from any perceived threat.

Whether a physical or emotional injury occurred ten days ago or ten years ago, it’s irrelevant to the autonomic nervous system’s protective response.

If a threat is perceived, until closure or understanding is experienced pertaining to that originating and causal incident, your autonomic system remains active and on high- alert. It does so to protect you.

Our fight or flight response is a highly valuable system. If you needed to outrun a lion, you’d be thankful for having a system in place that shuts off any unnecessary functions in the body and directs all its energy toward helping you run faster and see better in order to give you the best shot at survival. However, this system is only designed to sustain short-term emergency functionality. Long-term functionality, can have devastating consequences.

The sooner you see a Mindbody Syndrome Practitioner, the sooner you’ll be able to shut the fight or flight system off and begin to restore balance in your body.

It is common for those with Mindbody pain, such as back and joint pain, migraine or tendonitis to recover quickly simply by understanding the science behind TMS. This is because with the proper education and skill-building around TMS/Mindbody pain, your autonomic nervous system no longer perceives a threat to your system and can begin to relax and concentrate on recovery.

In short, what can cause the fight or flight system to remain activated long-term?

Unresolved trauma due to neglect, abuse, surgery, accident, illness and injury are all factors to consider.

What happens to you if this system isn’t ever fully switched off?
You may develop TMS.

TMS, is a consequence of an autonomic nervous system that is stuck in a loop from past events. We become hypervigilant, highly sensitive and reactionary to any pain or stressor in the present which feeds the notion that we are still, in a sense, under attack.

In a sense, TMS is the by-product of a nervous system that’s drawn its sword high in the sky shouting “They’ll never take me alive!”

And, since a traumatic event did in fact occur, it does so with good reason.

However, the consequences of a nervous system on consistent high-alert are vast, harmful to the body and show up in the form of chronic flare ups and symptoms we now know are TMS.

Many factors go into determining whether or not you have TMS.
Seeing a Mindbody Syndrome Practitioner along-side speaking with an allopathic medical professional and getting necessary testing is the way to go.

Working with a Mindbody Syndrome practitioner may even prevent unnecessary surgery and medication.

If you’ve had professional medical testing, or tried physical therapies and medication with little to no resolution of your chronic issues, TMS may be the missing piece of the puzzle.

Take this FREE 2 Minute Quiz to determine the likely cause for your pain.