Tension Myositis Syndrome is a major cause of common syndromes of pain involving the muscles, tendons and nerves of the back and neck. The disorder is a benign (though painful) physiologic alteration in soft tissues brought on by strong, unconscious feelings, primarily anger, that can often be eliminated by a mental process that involves focusing on the emotional rather than physical things. The unconscious emotions lead the nervous system to mildly restrict the oxygen supply to the involved tissues. It is the mild oxygen deprivation that causes the pain. TMS is a strategy of the brain to keep unpleasant thoughts and emotions from rising from the unconscious into the conscious mind. The brain, through established physiologic pathways, creates pain as a distraction. By focusing our attention on physical symptoms, we keep these painful thoughts and emotions repressed. This is a very effective strategy as there is an epidemic of mindbody disorders in our society. People who have TMS are likely to be people who are perfectionists, self-critical and highly responsible for others. But eliminating the pain is startlingly simple. We can banish the pain and thwart the brain's strategy by simply understanding and accepting that the pain is psychological and not physically based. TMS was first explored by Dr. John E Sarno at New York University's Rusk Institute in the late 1970's and early 1980's. According to Dr. Sarno the key to recovery from TMS is understanding and accepting the diagnosis. (Check out books written by Dr John E Sarno) What is TMS?
  • Most low back and leg pain
  • Most neck, shoulder and arm pain
  • Possible cranial nerve pain or weakness (fifth and seventh cranial nerves)
  • Fibromyalgia
  • Tension myalgia
  • Myofascial pain syndrome
  • Temporomandibular joint syndrome (TMJ)
  • Most tendonitis syndromes
  • Carpal tunnel syndrome
  • Repetitive stress injuries
  • Reflex sympathetic dystrophy
  • Post-polio syndrome
  • Most chronic pain
  • Chronic fatigue syndrome
  • Epstein-Barr syndrome
The Equivalents of TMS
  • Gastrointestinal disorders
  • Disorders of the circulatory system
  • Skin disorders
  • Disorders of the immune system
  • Genitourinary disorders
  • Benign disorders of the cardiac mechanism
  • Miscellaneous disorders
Disorders in which Emotions May Play a Role
  • Autoimmune disorders
  • Cancer
  • Cardiovascular disorders
TMS is not widely accepted amongst the medical profession, since very few physicians are trained to recognise a disorder whose roots are psychological; but a number of physicians in the last decade have had outstanding success in helping patients heal themselves of back pain disorders based on the TMS diagnosis.