This week we had our first meeting with the cleft team for our daughters first lip surgery she will have late this summer. It got me thinking about the impending scar that will soon take the place of her beautiful wide smile ( I am sure the scar will be beautiful too 🙂 – Update: It is! I belong to a group of adoptive parents of Chinese-American children and one group of adoptive parents of cleft-affected children. Almost weekly, the topic of scar tissue massage comes up. “What should I do?’, or “What should I use?” commonly are asked by fellow board dwellers. Here is my take and professional experience on massage for all types of scars.
Post-surgical scar massage has become increasingly popular in the massage field. With the increase of C-sections, gastric bypass, breast augmentation/reductions, and other surgeries, people are looking for ways to make it LOOK and FEEL like these surgeries did not take place. Luckily scar massage is one of those easy things people can do at home that makes a big cosmetic and physical difference. Massage therapists can also help people with complex scars, scars that are hard to reach, or they can help instruct clients about scar management at home.
First, why do we massage scars? We massage scars to:
- increase pliability, movement, or range of motion in the area
- decrease the appearance of scar
- increase circulation to the area to speed up healing of skin, muscle and nerve tissues
- decrease pain or tightness (“tugging”) in the area
Can all scars benefit from massage?
Yes, all scars, new (immature) or old (mature 10+ weeks old) and small or large, can benefit from massage. Although new scar tissue responds much better and will show better results than old scar tissue. Think of old, hard scars as play-dough that has been left out a while. Sometimes a few drops of water and a good kneading massage can bring the dough back to its soft, playful self. Dough that has only been out a little while requires much less effort.
How should you massage the scar?
Well, no two scars are the same and every massage therapist, doctor, plastic surgeon, etc has a different opinion about how to perform scar massage.
Most will tell you to use either:
- tranverse friction – side to side massage strokes across the scar
- circular friction – small gentle circular strokes around and on the scar
In general, most scars can benefit from either of these strokes for 5 minutes twice daily. For more complex, or large scars, or ones involving a lot of muscle pain, a massage therapist is where I recommend you go. Some massage therapists provide myofascial massage other massage techniques to cover a broad area or complex scar tissue effectively.
What to use?
There are a lot of expensive creams, gels, and oils out there that promise to reduce the appearance of scars. Is it the creams reducing the scar tissue or the act of massaging the cream in that reduces the appearance? I have looked at the ingredients in these products and found not nothing to make me think they will work better than a high-quality massage cream. People will rave about the old-school treatments of vitamin E oil, castor oil, or evening primrose oil. I am sure there are also a few aromatherapists reading this are thinking “is she going to mention helichrysum, mandarin, frankincense or lavender essential oil?” Done. All these products are known for their ability to help reduce scars and improve healing. Again, in my opinion, clean hands and any high-quality (I am a Sacred Earth and Soothing Touch fan) lubricant that reduces friction a little is a good option.
Here are links to my favorite products for scar massage:
Buy Soothing Touch Massage Cream (Unscented) on Amazon
doTERRA Frankincense Essential Oil
doTERRA Lavender Essential Oil
doTERRA Helichrysum Essential Oil
Final words and When a scar is more than a scar
When working on a scar, remember to start slowly and not too soon. Never work on an open lesion. Ask your doctor or massage therapist about scar massage if you have questions. Also, scars can sometimes hold a lot of emotional baggage. Whether it be a scar from a delivery that wasn’t perfect, a battle wound from cancer, or a scar from a childhood injury, we need to recognize this is more than just tissue here. Everyone needs to be patient with the body’s healing process, client and practitioner. All healing takes time, and in an instant gratification world, this is hard for people to comprehend.
Anyone with before or after photos or any experience/insights?
Happy Healing!
Ivy Hultquist L.M.T.
Just came across this blog, ill be trying out massage on some chin augmentation scar tissue. thanks!
You’re welcome! I have seen some great results from people using massage for their scars!
Hi Ivy,
I have been massaging a client that has a severe bed sore scar. I have been working on it for a year now. It is deep and has hard finger-like tissue around it. I use a lavendar lotion with friction and deep tissue massage with as much pressure as the individual can bare for at least 5+ mins. Massage is applied once a week. The client could not sit without discomfort. Now the client can sit and doesn’t have the tightness/pulling. Some of the perimeter hard tissue has softened and smoothed out, the scar is several years old therefore a very mature scar, so I don’t know how much more will be accomplished on the more severe area. But significant progress has been made with perseverance. So the jist of this is with a lot of work old scars can see some improvement with massage.
Amy
Michigan massage therapist
Amy
Thank you so much for stopping by to share your experience!!! It will not only help colleagues see what can be done with old scars and massage, but help people with scars seek massage therapy for scar tissue reduction! Isn’t Lavender EO is amazing (especially when combined with massage therapy)?
Hi Ivy,
Just wanted to share a website that I fell upon after hours of research on chicken pox scars. It has a wealth of info and gave me lots of encouragement, I hope it helps. Thanks for the info on massaging scars.
Annette
http://www.squidoo.com/how-to-reduce-scar-redness
http://www.squidoo.com/vitamin-e-scar
I experienced the truth of that long before becoming a massage therapist. I developed a very thick raised scar on my left shoulder following a bicycle accident. I had heard that massaging it, especially with with certain oils, would break up the scar tissue. I was pretty bad about applying oils, but I developed the habit of kneading and stretching it almost daily. It’s still visible, but now, instead of a hard mass, it’s pliable and conforms to the tissue beneath it. Massage definitely helps.
Thank you for sharing your story! I will actually be working with bicyclists next month. RAGBRAI (Registers Annual Bike Ride Across Iowa) will be near my home. I am going to set up a tent with my portable ashiatsu bars for the day. Another day, another blog!