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Scar Tissue and Muscle Pain
Scar tissue and muscle pain can be related. This can be true for those that suffer from chronic pain and tightness. When a person seemingly fails to get better or their condition has had minimal positive results from ongoing treatments, I look at three possible factors. This is if the patient has been compliant i.e. Following through with the proposed treatment plan(frequency of treatment, area to be treated, length of treatment, other recommended therapies, doing home care as prescribed etc…) Also, any underlying pathology must be ruled out.
Other Factors
The three other factors I will look to try to correct are:
1. Scar tissue
2. Pelvic imbalances
3. Possible sleep disturbances(your immune system is most active at night, if there is a lack of restful sleep, healing becomes more difficult)
In this particular blog, I am going to talk about scar tissue and pain. Many see a scar as a superficial marking as a remnant from a previous trauma/injury. What lay people fail to know, is that scars from a pure optics may look like a few centimeters long but the scar may actually run deeper and under the skin it maybe longer or wider.
Just using your eyes to judge the length of a scar will only give you a surface understanding. What needs to be done is for a Massage Therapist to actually feel with their hands to get a better assessment of the actual length and depth of the scar.
Most people have scars and most are seemingly fine in regards to pain or dysfunction. Scars, if they heal properly can easily move with the skin when the skin is manipulated.
Often times when I discover a scar that may be causing pain and dysfunction, I will relay my observation to the patient. The usual answer I get is,”oh that happened, when I was young….” Or “…oh yeah I had surgery there 10 years ago.”
After I have taught them about the effects of scars if they heal improperly a light bulb often turns on. When I explain the mechanics of scar tissue, their long standing dysfunction finally makes sense.
How can scars cause dysfunction?
Scars are fascinating to me. Scar tissue and muscle pain, especially chronic pain, are of great interest. When I find one that has improperly healed I get very excited. I know from experience the patient will get significant results, if the scar is treated appropriately.
Scars can become very thick, long and wide underneath the skin. They can “latch” on to nerves and other pain sensitive structures. Scars can cause muscles to stick to other muscles or other structures making them less efficient doing their jobs.
Scars can also cause fluid to become static in an area. In other words, an area maybe injured and can swell and the scar may cause difficulty in draining the area of the fluid. This is a significant issue for two factors.
1. Fluid in an area, caused by injury have cells that lay down potentially more scar tissue, making the scar thicker or causing new scars to develop.
2. Fluid in an area puts pressure on pain sensitive structures causing more irritation and pain.
Fluid and scar tissue that healed improperly are a double “whammy” for an individual.
What else can scars do? Scars can also cause “pulling” of fascia. Fascia is the tissue that surrounds muscles, bones and organs. It provides separation from different structures. Fascia runs the length of your body from head to foot and from left side to right side. Fascia also runs deep into structures such as organs.
Theoretically a scar can affect organs if it runs very deep. For example someone who has had abdominal surgery in the past. If the surgeon was a real “butcher” or the scar healed where it became so thick it can potentially pull on internal structures.
I have actually assessed scars where the patient feels a “pull” quite a ways away. For example, I had a patient that had abdominal surgery where a scar formed. I manipulated the scar and the individual felt the pull into the groin area!!!
By the way this individual suffered from postural issues whereby she was in a hunched forward position. I believe that the scar tissue contributed in a major way to her postural disposition and difficulty in maintaining an upright posture.
Scars can cause, as mentioned above, postural dysfunction. When posture is affected, what will happen is you will get imbalances in musculature. For example some muscles can become tight and weak or stretched and weak. Both causing discomfort.
Individuals can temporarily get relief by using Massage therapy or any other type of manipulative therapy to relax muscles but if the scar is ignored, there will be continued pain and discomfort. Scar tissue and muscle pain can become more prolonged.
How can Massage Therapy help you, if your discomfort is caused by a scar or scars?
Scar tissue and muscle pain can be treated. The function of the treatment is to manipulate the scar so that it becomes more mobile. Potentially as mobile as the surface of the skin. This may take some time for the Massage Therapist to assist in making the scar more mobile. This will be dependent on factors such as how deep and thick the scar is, patient’s pain tolerance and other health factors related or unrelated to the scar.
Can the treatment be uncomfortable?
This will depend on how thick, how stuck, how long and how deep the scar is. Also, it may depend on the area being treated. For example the back there is less discomfort then treating a scar on someones neck and thigh.
Scar tissue treatments are treatments that are probably least requested at spas. Yes, scar tissue treatments may be uncomfortable at times but they can be very effective. Usually the patient will feel results after the first treatment.
Should you try scar tissue treatment?
1. Intuitively do you suspect that you are suffering from scar tissue and muscle pain?
2. Have you recently had surgery and it’s been about 6 weeks post-surgery and you are still feeling a tremendous amount of discomfort, whereby there is almost zero change to the amount of pain and discomfort after surgery?
3. Do you recall an injury that you had in the past and suspect that the injury maybe impacting you physically from a negative stand point?
4. Do you often feel a “pulling” sensation whenever you move your limbs or trunk in certain directions?
5. Do you have a scar that feels thick around a particular body part?
These are some questions to ask yourself. If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, it is time to book an appointment with me to have your condition treated.
This form of treatment could also be used as a preventive measure. For example, you may have had recent knee surgery and want to make sure the knee moves well once the scar has healed. You would get treatment around the 4 week mark post-surgery(this is a rough guideline, it will depend on type of surgery and what the doctor recommends as an appropriate time to manipulate the scar).
Post-surgery treatment at the 4 week mark is usually less painful then someone who has allowed the scar to develop over a longer period because the scar is still mobile at the early stages. This type of treatment will decrease potential dysfunction and pain due to a scar that is very “stuck”.
Sometimes discomfort during a treatment is well worth it for long term gain. The longer one waits for necessary treatment, one will end up with prolonged discomfort and in the long run usually ends up spending more money. Treating scar tissue and muscle pain is one of my favorite types of treatment. It is fascinating because of the types of presentations that people represent due to how a scar has developed. Also, I have found very successful results with this type of treatment. If after reading this blog, you seem to fit someone who could benefit from this treatment but still are tentative, please email me so we could answer your questions regarding scar tissue and muscle pain.
More Resources:
Did you know that migraine symptoms can be aggravated by problems with the jaw? Here is our video discussing that. We have another website that discusses pain management tips. Please visit vprc.ca.
