Can massage really help with pain and restriction of not so optimally healed scar tissue?
The short (and long) answer is yes, absolutely ! Massage is beneficial when it comes to scarring. The body is a beautiful tapestry made up of muscle, bone, connective tissue and intricate layers of all the materials in between that come together to create and maintain the human structure. This blog looks at one little guy in particular, reparative collagen, and it's behavior in creating, and repairing scar tissue, pretty cool stuff!
Reparative collagen is the little guy that shows up when you've had an injury to the body, such as cutting your skin, or tearing a muscle or breaking a bone, and throws down building blocks of collagen (literally, and as quickly as it can!) to connect the injured tissue back together. As helpful as this little guy is at protecting and repairing the body, he unfortunately goes into panic mode, and forgets about his degree in architecture....backs his little booty up to the injury site, and randomly throws collagen blocks everywhere he possibly can until there is enough matter to reconnect the tissue and get on with the healing process.
His goal is to fill & repair the void as strongly as he can in the least amount of time, and honestly, he doesn't care about the way his work looks, or how much scarring and pain you get later on, he just wants you to feel better & heal as quickly as possible in the immediate #thankslittledude.
He doesn't stop to neatly line the collagen blocks up with the existing tissue fibers and instead just creates a solid, clumpy, matted structure, reconnecting the torn tissue, and making a big old mess at the same time, resulting in what we know as 'scar tissue' and feel as solid lumps under the skin at the site of injury. This mess though effective, can lead to problems for you later on at the site of the scarring, which massage therapy can help repair.
The Therapist becomes the Architect...
In the first 48-72hours, the best thing you can do to help reduce scarring, is get some ice on the injury site, reducing inflammation, and slowing the speed at which collagen is being dumped into the affected area and then let the inflammation settle...
As the injury repairs itself, often times the healed scar tissue becomes problematic, when it's knotted, inflexible fibers cause pain, or restricted movement at the injury site and in surrounding tissue, trapping nerves, or adhering to surrounding structures when trying to stabilize itself and this is where your Massage Therapist can be your greatest weapon against long term issues. Symptoms can occur within weeks of injury or years later and can be localized, or leech out into other areas depending on where the injury occurred and the severity of the injury. Majority of the time, these symptoms will be improved with regular, Scar Tissue Massage Therapy.
Early intervention rather than restorative is always better when it comes to treatment to avoid problems ever occurring, and is particularly beneficial when it comes to planned surgeries, or major injuries with known recovery time-frames, however ensure you discuss massage with your Doctor or Specialist as part of your recovery program, as timing does need to be right to optimize the benefits of massage. Too early and you risk infection at the site or slowing the healing process, too late and you move into restorative healing rather than working with the body as it heals initially, which will still be beneficial but can be a longer process with less predictable results.
What to expect from Scar Tissue Therapy.
Deep Tissue Massage, Stretching & Myofascial Release techniques are used to break down the existing, lumpy scar tissue matrix and encourage it to separate from incorrectly adhered surfaces. During this breakdown process new collagen structures are slowly laid down by the body at the site of injury, remodeling the old knotted scar tissue into a much smoother, more pliable tissue, alleviating the pain and improving range of motion.
This remodeling process generally takes 12-18months, which allows for the gradual breakdown of the existing 'scar tissue', and the replacement collagen blocks to be laid in a pattern more similar to the original tissue, subsequently resulting in healthier, more normal looking and acting tissue and eased symptoms. If the treatment is post-operative, your Therapist may also include lymphatic drainage as a part of your treatment plan, in conjunction with your Specialists clearance, or recommend complimentary therapies suited to your needs.
It is likely you will always have some scarring due to the tissue structure being permanently changed, however you can expect in time, as the remodeling process takes place that you will start to see greater range of motion, reduced pain and tightness, reduced scarring under the skin and depending on the age of the scarring, improved visibility of the scarring on the skin surface also.
If you are needing Massage to assist you with your scar tissue concerns, please contact us today to discuss further and commence your treatment plan
Harmonize Bodyworks & Beauty.
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