Tension Myositis Syndrome (TMS / Neuroplastic Symptoms) Questionnaire

If you’re still in doubt as to whether or not you’ve got Tension Myositis Syndrome (also known as MindBody Syndrome, Neuroplastic Pain & PPD), then I’ve compiled a series of questions that can guide you.

My Tension Myositis Syndrome Questionnaire will bring to light situations and factors that make an individual more likely to experience TMS pain, including personality traits that are exhibited by TMS sufferers.

First things first: Rule out medical conditions that require treatment

First of all, I’d like to stress how important it is to rule out any serious medical conditions, like infection and cancer, if you’ve got persistent and debilitating pain OR if you are experiencing a totally new symptom.

If you’ve already been examined by a medical professional and they couldn’t find anything wrong, OR your pain has been blamed on a past injury/accident, muscle imbalance, fibromyalgia, a herniated disc, a pinched nerve, bursitis, muscle tightness, repetitive stress injury, or a number of other conditions or triggers that are not in any way life-threatening, then you likely have TMS (mindbody) pain.

Here are some questions for you to help you decide for yourself:

Tension Myositis Syndrome Questionnaire - PainOutsidetheBox

1. Have you been suffering from chronic pain for over 4 months?

2. Does your pain tend to move around or change intensity (e.g. it comes and goes, spreads or swaps to a different location?)

3. Do you suffer or did you use to suffer from any other chronic condition? (such as IBS, vertigo, acid reflux, tension headache, migraines, sinus problems) that tend to keep recurring in your life?

4. Do you experience chronic pain in different areas of the body (for example back pain and neck pain, or the same pain on different sides of the body)

5. Does your pain vary in intensity throughout the day? (for example worse in the morning, better in the evening, or vice versa?)

6. Does your pain have a pattern or a threshold? (i.e does it always result after certain movements or activities OR, after you have been doing an activity for a certain amount of time - for instance, after sitting down for longer than 30 minutes?)

7. Have there been any exceptions to your pain (e.g. the pain was better or worse when you were on holiday, or during an emergency or a break from routine).

8. Do you identify with any of the following personalities?

   Ambitious & perfectionist - you want to be as perfect as possible in anything you do, and often put pressure on yourself or find yourself criticising the work of others;

   People-pleaser - you tend to always put others; needs first, and are very afraid of conflict with the people around you

   Catastrophic/anxious personality - you often tend to think of the worst (find out more about catastrophic thinking here)

   Conformist - you are afraid for your self-image and of how other people perceive you

   Victim - you think of yourself as an unlucky victim to external circumstances, and often feel powerless

   Stoic - expressing your feelings doesn’t come naturally to you; you see it as a sign of weakness, or you often don’t know how you feel

   Legalist - you are very critical of others and determined to be ‘always right’.

   Low self-esteem - you often feel like you’re not good enough and are scared to voice your opinions and feelings, or to pursue your ambitions

   Dependent - you are afraid to take on challenging tasks, like to delegate responsibility and decision making to others, and believe that happiness comes from other people and external circumstances. You are very scared of rejection.

   Health anxiety - do you tend to worry about your health more than the average person?

9. Were you going through a particularly stressful time when or in the year before the pain started? (examples include family arguments, lawsuits, high-stress job, job loss or threat of job loss, breakups, serious illness)

10. Did you go through a significant change in your life when or right before the pain started? (for example wedding, birth of a child, change in career, loss of a loved one)

11. Did your pain get worse when other people (including medical professionals) warned you to ‘be careful’ or shared their own painful experiences with you?

12. Do you find yourself planning your day around your symptoms (e.g. avoiding specific activities to prevent flare-ups, scanning or checking the body for symptoms even when the pain is low, taking frequent rests, frequently googling your symptoms and what they could mean, trying out a specific diet, etc.)?

If you’ve answered YES to the first question and to more than 3 additional questions from the list above, then you are likely to suffer from TMS pain.

To proceed to TMS therapy or coaching, however, everyone should have answered Yes to the first question. This is because pain that has been there for less than 4 months may result from an injury that is still healing, or from an infection or a virus someone may have contacted. The rest of the questions in my Tension Myositis Questionnaire can then help you with additional clues.

Additional TMS Indicators

As I continued working in the field of neuroplastic pain, I developed additional indicators to help individuals determine whether their symptoms could be a mindbody problem.

I’ve subdivided these indicators into 3 categories: Symptom manifestation, Emotional and Behavioural indicators.

Please note that you DO NOT have to match with every indicator on the list for your symptoms to be a case of TMS!

You could have just one symptom, and it could always be feeling more or less the same, and it could still be a mindbody symptom!

Symptom Manifestation:

• The severity of symptoms fluctuates from day to day (you have ‘good’ days and ‘bad’ days);

• The pain moves location or changes ‘form’ (e.g., from stabbing pain to pins and needles, to a duller, radiating pain, etc.);

• You have several unrelated symptoms (e.g., knee pain, back pain and tinnitus);

• Symptoms do not correspond to any damage or signs of wear and tear found on medical imaging, or your doctor has deemed them to be out of proportion to any medical findings;

• Symptoms sometimes flare up while doing very basic or harmless tasks (e.g., you have an intense reaction if you pick up a light object, or if you sneeze!);

• The exact (or almost exact) same symptoms manifest on both sides of the body;

• Symptoms are low or inexistent when you visit a doctor or a specialist, or they go away temporarily after taking a specific treatment (e.g., massage, chiropractor);

• Symptoms subside when you fall sick with another illness (e.g., the flu);

• If one symptom goes away, another new one crops up soon after (this could take the form of a non-pain related symptom like anxiety or insomnia);

• Symptoms are triggered by exercise or a specific activity, but you typically feel the worst of the pain well after the activity is over, or the following day;

• The same symptoms tend to come up at the same time of the year (e.g., at Christmas time, on your birthday, or on the anniversary of the loss of a loved one);

• You have a history of anxiety or other mood disorders, and /or you also suffer from depression, anxiety or other mood disorders.

Emotional Indicators

• Symptoms flare up when you’re having a bad day or the days/weeks following a distressing event (e.g. a relationship conflict) or after you get some bad or unexpected news;

• The symptoms disappear or become less intense when you’re positively distracted (e.g., while on holiday, while watching a captivating movie, or when you meet someone by accident who you were excited to see);

• Your symptoms got much worse shortly after you received a structural diagnosis or after you were diagnosed with a specific condition (e.g., after your back MRI revealed a disk herniation or a bone spur, or after your doctor confirmed you have fibromyalgia);

• Symptoms flare up when you visit a specific place or engage in a specific task that feels unpleasant to you OR when you have an event or a trip that you are hoping will go well!;

• Symptoms flare up every time you have a thought that expects the pain to get worse (e.g., if you think you may be overdoing it or if you suspect that an activity might be ‘too much’ for your body to handle).

Behavioural / Personality-related indicators

• You start thinking about your symptoms as soon as you wake up in the morning and have a tendency to monitor your body;

• You can’t help wondering whether you have something really serious going on in your body, even though you’ve already had several medical tests (health anxiety traits);

• You can’t help thinking that maybe, symptoms won’t go away;

• You plan your day, your activity or your trips in a way that helps you avoid flare ups;

• You keep feeling a compulsion to take additional medical tests or to get surgery, even if the latter is not advised as the primary course of action;

• You almost don’t want it to be a mindbody problem and keep chasing a medical diagnosis.

• You resist thinking or talking about distressing issues that took place in your past;

• You have a tendency to sugarcoat things and to want to minimize problems, especially in your relationships with significant others.

And now? Time to find your Tension Myositis Syndrome cure!

If my Tension Myositis Syndrome Questionnaire and indicators have convinced you - or almost convinced you - that you’ve got TMS, then you should get going, for there’s a some work to be done!

You can start by subscribing to this site to get a short booklet explaining exactly how chronic pain develops, and complete the 3-step exercise within.

Secondly, make sure you learn how neuroplastic symptoms work, as understanding the Science behind this can help you with recovery.

If you feel that you need additional guidance or support, please check out my comprehensive DIY online program, which includes videos, lessons and a workbook to help you tackle all the aspects that may be contributing to your symptoms.

The 3 pillars of TMS healing

Your Tension Myositis Syndrome cure can never consist of one magic pill. What you need are the following 3 pillars of TMS healing:

i) education to help you recognise TMS and ditch false beliefs about pain.

ii) self-awareness, to become more aware of how certain events or situations in your life have or are affecting you. This could be admitting that something is not as ‘great’ as you have convinced yourself it is up till now. This could be a job, a marriage, and even parenthood. It could also be admitting how angry you are that you have denied yourself certain possibilities in life.

iii) reaction-shifting - finally, you need to learn how to react differently to your chronic pain. You need to learn how to diffuse your fear, how to observe your pain without judgement, without being scared, frustrated or helpless.

All of these elements are addressed in my Intensive Transformational Recovery Program, Pain Free Breakthrough, and I can also help you tackle them in an individual level during a Consultation.

I hope this helps and that those of you who’ve answered Yes to more than 3 questions in my Tension Myositis Syndrome (TMS) questionnaire will embark on this wonderful journey of self-discovery!

I also invite you to join my Facebook Group for additional tips, videos and inspiration, or to sign-up for my recovery program if you feel ready for some deep work!