How Scars Affect the Body and How Massage Therapy Can Help

Fun fact: Your skin is the largest organ in our body. I know, no one really thinks about the skin when it comes to organs, but it’s true! So, because your skin is your largest organ, and its main job is to protect you from the outside world, it’s important to take care of it. 

How scars affect the body

Let’s talk about scars. Everyone’s skin is different, but it’s rare that we escape this life without at least a few scars. In order to fully understand how scars can affect our bodies, first we have to understand fascia. Fascia is a thin sheet of connective tissue that lies just beneath the skin, and it surrounds and connects all of our muscles and organs. 

Think of Fascia like plastic wrap. When you cut plastic wrap, or it loses its grip on a surface, it becomes a jumbled mess that needs to be ironed out to be useful again. 

Our skin and fascia are the same way. During a surgery, your skin and fascia are damaged. When it’s over, your skin is stretched and sewn back together, however, the fascia underneath remains bunched and jumbled. In order for it to function properly again, it needs to be smoothed out. 

Post-surgical scars are something that doctors don’t typically talk about. But untreated scars and jumbled fascia can lead to pain and dysfunction. Just like muscles, our skin compensates to find the path of least resistance. For example, when a person undergoes a C-section, their body compensates by using the abdominal scar rather than the abdominal muscles to move, so recovery and regaining strength and stability can become a problem over time. C-section scars can also cause an uncomfortable tugging sensation in the lower abdomen and even groin, knee, lower back and or hip pain. The good news is that certain massage therapy techniques can help.

How can a massage therapist treat scar tissue?

Manual therapy performed by a professional is extremely helpful when it comes to eliminating pain and discomfort from scars. 

Active Release Therapy (ART)

I often use ART to treat my patients with difficult scar tissue.  Even old scars can negatively affect the body, so don’t write off a scar just because it happened years ago. ART works by “smoothing out the plastic wrap.” The technique combines movement and pressure to break up scar tissue and stimulate blood flow to the affected area, which encourages healing. For some, the pressure can be slightly uncomfortable, but once the scar tissue is allowed to heal, the surrounding tissue will be allowed to move as it’s supposed to- pain free. 

There are several other techniques that can help to break up and heal scar tissue including cupping, acupuncture, or laser treatment. But, as I’ve mentioned, manual therapy performed by a professional is extremely effective when it comes to healing scar tissue. 

If you have a scar from surgery ? Or even a slip and fall from childhood? Let’s talk! As a orthopedic massage therapist, my main goal is to help your body function as it should without the limit of pain or discomfort.