Did you know scars can cause major dysfunction and pain throughout the body if not treated properly?
You may have a well-healed scar on the outside after an injury/surgery but it’s what’s on the inside where the truth lies.
During surgery, scar tissue is formed inside the body and if this is never addressed, movement dysfunctions can start to form. The brain sees scars as a threat. Think of it like this, the scar is something foreign to the brain and the brain wants to heal this area or needs something in that area to change. If there is no change the brain keeps concentrating on that area which gives less thought to the muscles and tissue around the scar. You can see how this can become a problem after many years. Yes, this can take many years to show symptoms!
A very common scar for women that causes many issues are c-section scars. A lot of abdominal dysfunction can be found with these scars. Intra-abdominal pressure is hard to achieve, lower back muscles can take over, for now, weak abdominal muscles, and because the strength from the core is less the neck can even start to help out more. I have found a few common symptoms of these scars.
Symptoms of abdominal dysfunction include (but not limited to):
- Low back pain
- Lower extremity pain usually hip pain
- Pelvic floor symptoms such as incontinence, constipation/diarrhea, and frequent urination.
- Loss of connection with abdominal muscles
- Neck pain
Let’s talk back pain and surgeries…
You have surgery and you get rehab but did anyone ever work on your scars that were formed so close to the “problem” itself? Was the true problem ever discovered or treated or was surgery the first and only option you were given? Well, that is another thought in itself.
So the scar. It’s there, it’s been ignored, and now you are having unexplained pain, again! Well, let’s take a look and see if maybe it’s the scar itself pulling on muscles, changing muscle patterns, causing new dysfunctions and oh joy, pain all over again.
Extremity surgeries are usually pretty interesting. Here’s an example of why. A client has surgery for knee problems, hip problems, or shoulder problems. During the healing, so much scar tissue has formed that all the rehab they go through isn’t helping the clients extremity get back to “normal” range of motion. So they go right back into surgery to remove the scar tissue. Wait, doesn’t this form more scar tissue? I’ve seen clients who have had multiple surgeries to get rid of scar tissue and no one ever addressed the very first scar! I am not saying there aren’t reasons for second surgeries. What I am saying is that more often than not no one has ever tried working on the scar tissue itself before deciding to do surgery.
Long story short, your scars should be checked by a trained professional. Many of the techniques I use can specifically help tell the brain it’s ok to allow regular movement of the body again after scar damage.
This is something you as an individual have the right to know about and be aware of. Will you decide to take charge of your own health?
–e