Frequently Asked TMS Questions

TMS is a collective name given to physical disorders that exist as a consequence of prolonged and repressed emotional stress. TMS stands for 'Tension Myoneureal/Myositis Syndrome'. When the mind represses emotional trauma, it manifests itself into varying physical symptoms. Also known as 'Stress Illness' or 'Psychophysiologic Disorder'. Have a look at the TMS explained section for more information.

Everybody’s body is different and everybody’s mind is different. There is no single answer to this and searching for this answer might drive you a little stir crazy. There are many factors that contribute to this, it can depend on the amount of stress you have built up, what types of trauma you have repressed, how your current mental health state is and how much dedication you put into your healing 'work'.

Some people recover just from finding out about the mind-body connection (rare), others take years because they resist doing the emotional work or still live in constant fear and fight their symptoms. Committing to a daily practice without any expectation of how long this will take is really important. Frustratingly trying to fix things and change things will most likely keep you stuck. Try to surrender to the process and let the work do its thing. Take the first step and read my Recovery Journey Roadmap.

This one drives me a bit nuts now I know that it's definitely real! Read any of the thousands of success stories on TMS Wiki and thank you letters to Dr Sarno. Listen to the many case study interviews on the Cure for Chronic Pain Podcast or the Mind and Fitness Podcast. Take it from me! Why would we and hundreds of others sharing this work waste our time making this up? This is the real deal, and EVERYONE deserves to know about this work. It's mind-bogglingly important.

Has any treatment ever given you long term relief from your symptoms? Have you had the run around by various doctors? Does your pain change or move around or sometimes disappear?

Read one of the TMS books such as Healing Back Pain by Dr John Sarno and see if they resonate with your story, take the online test by Dan Buglio. Consult with a TMS practitioner if you prefer.

The runaround of uncertainty can keep you stuck in limbo, we do love to overthink and ruminate, don't we? I'm exactly the same! Try committing to the daily mind-body work outlined in this website and see how you feel!

Take a look at the TMS expert’s section to find out who helped me. Follow me on social media to keep up to speed on any new resources and experts that I add, I'm on Facebook and Instagram.

TMS is caused by built-up emotional stress. When the mind represses memories, trauma, hurtful or painful feelings of any kind, they become toxic and manifest into an array of horrible physical symptoms.

Many cases are instigated by adverse childhood experiences that put our bodies into a constant state of hypervigilance and over-stress our nervous systems. Learn more about TMS here.

Some people are adept at feeling and expressing their emotions. Some people don’t experience trauma. Many people don’t repress feelings and change their personalities to suit others and pretend everything’s OK. These types of personalities tend to suffer most from chronic issues. When we resist important emotions, they persist in the body and as a consequence, they show up elsewhere and don't go away until we learn to address our emotional health with the same gusto as we address our physical health.

Recovery for me looked like this. Firstly I learned everything I could about TMS and why it exists, which led to believing it 100%. Then I learned how to expose my repressed emotions through journaling. Then soothing the nervous system into rest and repair by means of daily meditation. Check out my daily routine outlined here.

Knowledge is power with TMS, the more you know and understand, the more your mind will get the memo and learn to let go. Everyone's journey is a little different though. Some people recover just from learning about the mind-body connection and understanding why TMS and is created by the mind, not the body. This is your healing, nobody else's.

As your brain realises that you’re onto it, your symptoms might fire even more than before. It's as if your nervous system now detects even more of a threat than before, and so it freaks out for a bit before getting the memo that you’re safe and well.

You might be OK for a while then your symptoms reappear with a vengeance, these flares are known as 'Extinction Bursts', the key is in the name - it's on its way out and you can take this as a good sign! There are lots of things to learn with this process, I wrote a lot of them down here in my what to expect article.

Uff, this is a hard one. I tried so many times to tell people there’s a way out. Only those ready to hear it will properly listen. BUT, it’s worth planting the seed in their head, so that they can see it worked for you and how enthusiastic you are about it. Then when they’ve finished trying every other treatment in the book and still aren’t any better, they might just come back and ask.

Maybe recommend Sarno’s book, or send them a link to this website - I wrote it in a way that can be easily understood by anyone. Then they can either take a look or not. It seems to ‘stick’ best with people when they’re desperate because nothing else has worked, so their minds are open to new opportunities and alternative non-medical routes.

Thanks for this question Eddy, I loved answering it! This work has taught me SO MUCH. Other than the fact that I now no longer have any chronic symptoms at all - I’m braver, more resilient, calmer, less fearful, less anxious, I worry less in general, I have no health anxiety anymore, I sleep better, I communicate better, I accept myself for who I am, exactly how I am.

I look after myself FIRST. I have trust in my body and my own innate ability to improve my life, I feel in control, I feel free. I feel stronger, physically and mentally. My triggers no longer have a grip over me.

I am now an avid READER, having never read in my life. I am obsessed with learning about myself and I now enjoy setting myself challenges and testing myself outside my comfort zone. I know now that I can do hard things...really hard things, and they don’t hurt me. I could even go as far as to say that I've learned to love myself. From looking at myself so deeply. Magic really.

I wish everyone could know about this work...pain relief was only one small part of this, to be honest. If I had never hurt, I would NEVER have addressed any of my demons...and bever would have looked inside for answers. 

Firstly, don't fear your symptoms, don't imagine a life where you will always be like this or give in to your symptoms controlling your every outcome. This season your life is temporary and you will get through it. I take it easy when I’m fatigued, rest when my body asks me to. I take a pain killer when I need it. Don’t fight against your symptoms or your recovery. Love your every move. Treat yourself like you would treat a loved one. Getting moving whilst recovering is part of the process, but use your instinct to decide whether you can bravely and confidently push through something (without fear) and not just pushing to fight it (with fear).

For me, getting moving resulted in additional symptoms for a few reasons.

1) my body was so used to being sat still, any movement was painful and shocked my body and my mind into a fearful scenario, so it took some getting used to until I felt safe and could relay that message to my brain (by literally telling it I knew I was safe and I was OK).

2) my pain was a conditioned response, I was so used to hurting after I moved, it became an ingrained habit for my brain to expect it, and therefore produce it. The more you practice gentle movement WITHOUT fear, the easier this will become. Even if you hurt more after, over time that pain response timeframe will shorten, it might only last an hour, or less, then less again.

3) I put a LOT of pressure on myself to perform, to be the best immediately. I compared myself to others (still do), I am competitive by nature even though I hate that (working on it). If you're being hypervigilant about yourself and your ability WHILST exercising, or you're putting really high expectations on yourself to be strong, flexible, the best, the fastest etc...then you're fighting a losing battle. Exercise to FEEL GOOD and you should see gradual improvements with this.

You’re teaching your brain to feel safe, imagine it like training a new puppy - you’ll get there with practice, persuasion and gentle consistency. Dump the frustration and fear and treat your body with love and understanding and yuu should be able to add a little more activity gradually.

Honestly, I got moving VERY gradually. Start with very simple short walks around your house. Add in a little side stretching, forward bending, arms circles, leg raises. Use the aid of a chair (chair yoga is brilliant for beginners or reduced mobility), hold onto a table, use blocks. Go really slowly and add up over time. It's annoying how long and frustrating this can be, but it was really gradual for me. It took me about a year to get to properly practising a full yoga class...and even then I still used aids and avoided lots of backend stuff (sometimes I still do now I know my own normal limits - that EVERYONE has).

I couldn't sit up in a chair because I was afraid of the chair, the fear brought on the response, not the 'sitting' itself, I could sit on the sofa quite happily.

As soon as the feeling of fun starts to outweigh the feeling of fear, you’re well on your way to making this work. I used a pilates pillow for a few months to sit on and raise my hips in seated positions or lying on my back. I used blocks and a belt to help me access positions without overstretching or straining. I always kept my knees generously bent in any fold positions, my savasana is ALWAYS a modified constructive rest position (on back, knees bent up) even now.

Do what your body needs to do to feel safe whilst moving. As you’re building strength in your body you’re also building strength in your mind. It’s not a battle.

Have any treatments ever brought you any long term relief? Do you get different messages from different doctors? Have you read any TMS books that resonate deeply with you? Are you people pleaser, perfectionistic self-critic?

Honestly, until you start to recover, there might still be a subtle level of uncertainty...but what have you got to lose by trying this work? My back looks awful on MRI, but the more I learnt about TMS and the more success stories I read, the greater my belief became. Plus, I actually realised that the pain I was feeling wasn't in my spinal discs, it was in the muscles and nerves surrounding it. Check out my Psoas article for more about this revelation!

As soon as I started to see and feel results, that further solidified the diagnosis for me. This is the real deal, trust me, just try it. Commit to the daily practice for a couple of months religiously, drop the constant questioning about the diagnosis, assume this is what you have, and see how you feel! You can heal, it's only your conflicted mind holding yourself back to try to keep you safe from your repressed emotions.

Emotional excavation isn’t just necessarily about uncovering the 'big stuff'. The big stuff might have been a trigger or the main catalyst of the start of your lifelong habit of emotional suppression, but it's probably not the whole story. TMS sufferers tend to bury a LOT of stuff, small stuff, self-critical personality traits and constant self-bickering that builds up to sometimes being even bigger than our biggest traumas.

Your pain is likely to be a consequence of many different little things that made your reservoir overflow. Stop trying to fix yourself, and focus on finding out how to understand yourself, love yourself, forgive yourself and your insistent self-doubt. It’s a process. Imagine how long it took for you to get to this point, unravelling all of that takes time and practice. Unlearning and relearning, try to be patient and loving to yourself...you will get there, just give up the fear and the fight and trust in the process.

Great! Mine was the same. I had back pain and ONLY back pain for years. I did later realise that I had also suffered migraines and insomnia, but my back pain NEVER budged. Everyone’s TMS will be different. Some people’s pain moves, others don’t. Try not to get fixated with other people’s situations. Your body, your journey. Learn what else to expect on your TMS healing journey here.

Mine did too, I felt like a nerve was getting bitten by a fiery mouthed piranha. It shot up my spine and into my leg sometimes. It spasmed and my legs sometimes gave way. Sometimes it ached or clenched. Your muscles are being overstressed and nerves travel through muscles. Nerve twinges are normal, some people experience burning, itching, dull aching. Totally depends on the person. Don't sweat it or over question it.

There are a few ways that have worked for me. Firstly, DON’T PANIC! Yes, it hurts but TMS is benign and not going to damage you, try not to be frustrated by it you will only fuel it further. Rest if you need to but don’t ruminate in the symptoms.

I rarely pushed through a flare-up by just ‘carrying on’ simply because - I couldn’t - and fighting against your situation will only make it worse. Sometimes I took pain killers and could do what I needed to do, very carefully and gradually. Journaling and mediation right in the middle of a flare helped me immensely, on various occasions I pulled myself out of a flare with this.

I also remember dialling down from a level 10 pain flare, to a level 4, in the same day, when I did Alan Gordon’s 21-day course (I binged it in one go). Rest if you need to but DON’T BE AFRAID, flares are just warning alarms. Read the daily affirmations list to remind yourself that you're OK.

Honestly? Not really. I think for me it was just a case of time and consistent effort. I think we can easily get caught up in trying to perfect the process and ‘go deep’ and really figure everything out 100%. If you know the basics of how TMS works and are doing the emotional and soothing work, with a mindset without fear or expectation, then it's just a matter of time and consistent dedication.

I never explored it, I just understood it was a messenger, like someone knocking annoyingly at my door to listen. But I did teach myself to love it, to thank it and appreciate that it was just little Dani asking for help with a really painful alarm bell. I acknowledged HER and the message but turned to my emotions, never my physical response to that.

Becoming indifferent to whatever your symptom is, is really critical. Fuck whatever it is, it doesn’t matter how your body is interpreting TMS. It’s irrelevant, it’s just a physical consequence of your emotional turmoil, whatever YOUR version of that alarm system is really doesn’t matter.

Sorry if I sound like a broken record, but it's a process to practice. For a long time, I literally had to imagine drawing a black curtain over the thoughts and say “NOPE!”. It took consistent practice and many fails!

Meditation and self-soothing really helped me ditch the overthinking... consistency with that every day will naturally still your head and fuel your heart. Overdose on the meditation if you can, morning and night, I sometimes do two or three consecutively as it takes me about 10 minutes to shut my monkey brain up!

The more soothing you do the more settled you will be, its as if meditation shows you the way back to your real self - which is calm loving awareness.

TMS is a sneaky bitch that’s why! TMS will jump in and remind you that you’re not safe! Your brain will be constantly looking for something to fuck up and see as unsafe. You might even realise you’re not in pain and like magic - just that thought - will trigger a pain signal.

Your body is so used to this brain-controlled bollocks that it can instantly hurt just by having a thought. It takes time and practice to get to the feeling of indifference to the pain. The more days you can not give a shit about how you feel, the better.

I know its hard when you have a great day and suddenly realise you’re not in pain...then HEYOOOO BAM! Pain. Just let it know that you’re onto it and you don’t buy its bullshit anymore. Just say, “thank you brain, I got your message, I love you, I’m safe, I’m OK” over and over...focus on something else, it WILL get the memo, eventually.

I have scoliosis too, and used to suffer really bad headaches. Every Physiotherapist / Chiropractor I saw gave me a different story and different treatment (first red flag!) Have you had any long term improvements from PT work? I was given all sorts of exercises to do, which just made me worse. I did have a muscle imbalance, which they proved to me with various movements...but it wasn't the cause of my pain. Dr Sarno called these bodily abnormalities "normal abnormalities" and shouldn't necessarily cause any pain, certainly not pain in a different part of the body. 

I read a lot of success stories similar to my situation, all of them said the same thing. What is shown on MRI doesn't necessarily equate to the cause of your discomfort. I read Sarno's book and I immediately saw myself in his writing. It convinced me I had TMS. It took some time and wavering belief, but he was right and it worked. Do you internalise and repress difficult emotions? Do you have any of the typical TMS personality traits / trauma in your background? Look at your situation objectively and consider that this might actually be what's going on.