Exercise for scar tissue

[paula]

Hello there, some of you know my problem has been scar tissue, and that I had two surgeries a few months ago, for removal of this. Unfortunately, ended up in the hospital twice after that, but I'm hoping with the right diet, drinking a lot of water and walks, will settle things a bit.

My question this time is, I've heard that doing some yoga stretching exercises can help with this, moving adhesions around and so forth. Does anyone have experience with this? Any insight is always helpful. Thank you for your time and support.

paula

[ot dave]

Hi Paula,

Scar tissue is an evil necessity sometimes. That said, it can grow like a weed and get into places it's not supposed to...
Scars usually mature and stop growing within 12 months, but that is a general statement...some it will stop sooner, some later. Once scar tissue "lays" down, it's hard to get it to go away. Every time you move the tissue that has the scar, microscopic tears of the scar occur, which leads to laying down of more scar tissue...again, an evil cycle. The trick is to make sure that you keep moving that area in order for new scar tissue to not have a good anchor. As an OT, having done therapy, scar tissue gets really hard to break loose once it gets a good anchor. I once broke some scar tissue loose on a hand patient, and the noise was so loud that I thought that I had broken his finger, when in fact, it was the scar tissue that I had broken loose. He immediately felt pain, that then eased up, with significantly improved movement of the finger we were working on. I share that to say that the scar can be broken loose, but you would definitely need some good leverage. Intestinal scars would be significantly more difficult to break loose in that fashion.
So, back to your question, yes, I think that the stretching that is involved with yoga would definitely help with reducing the amount of scar tissue. But as I stated above, how long the growth occurs is unique for each person. However, I could see where you would add yoga as part of a daily routine simply for all of the other benefits it provides.
Hope that helps.

David

[paula]

Hi David, I thought I had responded to you yesterday, but I don't see it here, and just in case, I wanted to thank you for the detailed explanation, which comes in very handy. I will then, continue to do the yoga exercises and some I found on line as well. I'm also doing a lot of walking and drinking a lot more water than I used to. Really trying to do as much as I can to prevent any more hospital visits or stays.

If you have any other suggestions, please share. I would go to an ostomy therapist, as well, but I'm in Portugal and can't really find one. Will have to research it some more.

thank you again...................paula

[ot dave]

I would go to an ostomy therapist, as well, but I'm in Portugal and can't really find one

...OT is an occupational therapist. I did scar treatment on hands/fingers. A physical therapist might be worth investigating though as they might have some gross motor/trunk stretching exercises that would help maintain your scar mobility.

David

[xctm1]

Paula, If you are drinking a lot of water to stay hydrated, I can recommend a product called "Hydrate". I have had a problem with staying hydrated (main problem was feeling dizzy every time I stood up) but since I started drinking this every morning, I think the problem has gone away and the gout in my toes is somewhat better. Take care, Larry

[paula]

Hello, David and Larry, I will take both of your suggestions in consideration. Thanks so much!!!