THERE ARE ALL kinds of scars, inside, outside, big, little, emotional, physical, some obvious, others hidden. Here we will be addressing the physical scarring from accidents and operations.
SCAR TISSUE
Scar tissue, whether it is very obvious in a line running from neck to navel, as in chest surgery, navel to pubis in order to extract a baby by C-section, or around and over the stump of an amputated arm, is different from uninjured tissue. It is thicker and less flexible and needs watching, because wherever it is, it is apt to harbor trigger points. Those hidden trigger points don’t need a special invitation to light up the scene.
Anytime you cut tissue you get a scar: from the littlest ones on your fingers, souvenirs of kitchen work, to the deep-lying long ago appendectomy.
ATHLETES
Anytime you stretch a cold muscle, you tear muscle fibers, and this is especially true of athletes, who are already loaded with scar tissue from years of practice and competition. Every time an athlete goes into action, some muscle fibers are torn by virtue of the strain put upon them. When these micro-injuries heal, they leave behind micro-scars, where the edges of micro-wounds were drawn together.
OPERATIONS
There are all kinds of operations, which, leaving scars, set the stage for trigger point activity. What seems like a simple extraction of a couple of wisdom teeth can set in jaw pain, headaches and face and neck pain.
There are spinal operations which often leave the pain for which they were undertaken still pulsing. And there are also the “ectomies,” which means cutoffs such as mastectomy, hysterectomy, appendectomy and vasectomy.
Always ask in what position you are in during surgery and how long you were in that position. Often that position is responsible for muscle pain that has nothing to do with the operation itself
ACCIDENTS
We tend to remember the accident that landed us in the hospital or turned us black and blue but don’t overlook the small ones which over time start to grumble and case stiffness, weakness and eventually pain.
TREATING THE INJURED AREA
When Bonnie had her second total hip operation in 1980 she prepared first by making sure she was in shape and secondly by making sure that the muscles involved were detriggered. When we asked permission from the surgeon to work the muscles following the operation he said “Just so long as you don’t disturb the suture.”
Bonnie Prudden Myotherapy treats adjacent and opposing muscle groups and for the most part the treatment starts away from the injured area and works toward it. As the far away muscles are detriggered the muscles begin to relax removing the pull on the painful area and making it feel better even before the work in that area has begun.
In 1980 the incision and scars for total hip were magnificent in length but keeping in mind that we are all hung together we started in Bonnie’s foot, and worked our way up to the hip.
Figure that the scar you can usually see is kind of like the lacing on a football. Starting at about 2 inches away from 
the incision and using your fingers, gently press and push toward the incision. Follow all along the line on both sides and repeat the next day. Eventually you will be able to go right up to the incision.
In the case of some thing like a mastectomy or open heart surgery you will need to treat the entire arm, upper back, chest and especially the axilla area.
BURNS
Many years ago our office received a call from a mother whose young son had firecrackers explode in his pants slash pockets. The burn specialists did their job, ordered stockings and predicted a long and painful recovery. Did we have any suggestions the frantic mom wanted to know.
When applied with common sense it is amazing how many different problems can be helped with Bonnie Prudden Myotherapy. We instructed the mom to start gentle trigger point work away from the scarring and work toward it. A few days later she reported that after she did the work there was less swelling, less pain and the boy who had been bent forward was able to stand up straight. With a bit of daily BPM the healing took place much more quickly, leaving the scar as a reminder.
As with any injury (or leaking car hose or roof), the sooner you start the treatment the better. Left on their own, muscles begin to organize themselves into patterns which lead to tightness, swelling and pain causing muscles not designed for the duty to take over.
For more information see my other blogs:
Surgeries and Injuries: Preparation and Recovery – Bonnie Prudden Myotherapy
Hip Replacements and Other Spare Parts – Bonnie Prudden Myotherapy
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If you have questions or need help, email me at enid@bonnieprudden.com.
For more information about Bonnie Prudden®, Bonnie Prudden Myotherapy®, workshops, books, self-help tools, DVDs, educational videos, and blogs, visit www.bonnieprudden.com. Or call 520-299-8064 if you have questions or need help. Enid Whittaker, Managing Director, Bonnie Prudden Myotherapy®
