Emotions Impact on Scar Tissue Formation

In helping women recover from childbirth whether it was a vaginal birth or cesarean, I’ve worked on a lot of scar tissue in my practice. It doesn’t matter if it was a tear in the perineum or an abdominal incision, scar tissue forms to help heal the tissues. It’s amazing how different scar tissue formation can be from woman to woman. Some scars hardly get thick at all and other’s become as thick as ropes.

Genetics can play a huge role in the amount of scar tissue formation from person to person. Some people are just really good scar producers, unfortunately. It’s important to help any scar tissue to learn how to lay down in a way that allows the tissues to move freely and become more flexible around the scar. You do this by massaging the scar tissue. The more scar tissue the more you need to massage the tissues. This can help the scar tissue and surrounding area to be able to move as it should and can help minimize the thickness of the scar tissue.

However, sometimes no matter how much you massage the scar tissue it just doesn’t seem to change.  It remains thick and unmoving.

Emotions Cause Thicker Scars

Besides genetics, what I have found to be a causative factor in the creation of a scar tissue thickness is the state of a woman’s emotion during the surgery or accident.  The more traumatic an event, the more scar tissue binds up and thickens.

 

It is possible to help the scar tissue minimize significantly and it can happen rather quickly if you do this one thing.  I have experienced that as soon as the emotions being held in the tissues are released, the scar tissue reduces in size instantaneously.   I’d like to share two cases that illustrate my point.

 

In one case I saw a woman who was several years post c-section.  She presented with about a 6-inch vertical incision running up her belly, which is very rare to see these days as most scars are horizontal.  Right around her umbilicus she had a one-inch thickening of her scar that was as big as my thumb.  She felt it too before I began working on it.

As I was massaging this area to help mobilize the tissue around this thickened area I was talking to her about the uniqueness of the vertical scar.  She expressed how upset she was with the surgeon because there didn’t seem to be an explanation as to why he did it in that direction.  As I allowed her to have permission and own her anger toward the surgeon, she was able to process her emotions and the anger inside her released.

The thickened area immediately was 2/3’s less in size than before I started working on it.  She was as amazed as I was in the change in size.

In another case this woman had a 9-week-old baby and was having issues with her episiotomy scar.  She was having pain and discomfort, a pressure feeling in her perineum.  When I evaluated her intra-vaginally there was significant scar tissue on the left-hand side of her opening between the vaginal and anal opening.  The anal sphincter had thickening on the left side as well.  The thickness of this scarring was about the size of a Twizzler rope.  She was extremely upset about the doctor doing an episiotomy because she really didn’t want one and she doesn’t remember the doctor asking her permission to do one.

As she was able to process through and release the emotions stored there, the scar tissue immediately melted under my touch.  She felt so much lighter after releasing the anger and resentment she had toward her doctor and her birth.  The perineal area felt more flexible when the scar tissue released.   You could barely tell there was any scar tissue left in the area after the session.

 

These are just two cases that have shown me how emotions can decrease the size of scar tissue in the body when they are released.  There are many, many more.  It just goes to show that the body does hold onto emotions and they do get stuck in the tissues.  The good thing is, it can all be released with proper care.

 How to Release Your Surgical Scar Tissue

If your scar tissue is tender and resistant to release, check in to see what emotions come up for you around how the scar got there.  You may have been traumatized on some level and that is caught in your scar tissue.  Forcing the tissues to release without addressing the emotional aspect can reinforce the trauma and cause more pain.

If your surgical scar is really tender and painful, find a professional trained in trauma release therapy to help you release your scar tissue.  I find working manually with the tissues and releasing the emotions together gets you a more complete level of healing.  Please work with one of my Birth Healing Specialists.  See if one is near you.

If you haven’t already seen my video on how to massage your C-section scar, check it out here!

Just know it’s important for our tissues to have free mobility so problems don’t arise down the road.  Please address any scar tissue you have in your body.  Massage it and help it to move again and please reach out and get the support you need if the scar tissue doesn’t seem to be releasing on its own.