Welcome to Yarrow and You Therapeutic Bodywork

blog where I share little tidbits about how bodywork can help you. My name is Heather Alison Cook and I specialize in Craniosacral Therapy, Myofascial Bodywork, Massage, and Cupping therapies. I have studied biomechanics under Katy Bowman and am a certified yoga instructor. I love to help people feel better in their bodies and understand how getting regular bodywork has many benefits. My office is located in the Historic District of the city of Aurora, not too far from Canby. Let’s talk about scar tissue today!

What is Scar Tissue?

Scar Tissue is the body’s way of healing an injury to tissues from cuts, wounds, burns, surgery, infection, or radiation, among other things. Scars are what we call this type of healing on the outer surface of the skin and internally they are referred to as adhesions. Adhesions can bind once separate tissues, like fascia and organs or muscles and nerves. Scar tissue is wear the body sends collagen proteins to start closing up the wound. New blood vessels are made so that fresh blood, oxygen, and nutrients can get to those tissues.  Medically speaking, skin repair is one of the most complex processes in the human body! Wow! Thank you, body, for all that you do to help me heal!

But what happens is sort of chaotic, I mean literally, it’s chaos.

During the maturation phase of this process, the collagen fibers tend to be thick and cross each other. Meaning when new fibers are laid down, they do so in a disorganized, chaotic fashion, instead of lying down nice and neat. When new tissue is formed in this way there is less give, more restriction in that area of tissue. It is usually not as it was before. This can happen on the skin where we can see it or inside where we cannot. Sometimes, as all of this new collagen is being laid down and new blood vessels are being formed, things get glued together. Sometimes the tissues bind themselves and get a bit waded up (non-medical term!). This can happen when we get surgery on a disc in our vertebrae, have shoulder surgery, or have a cesarean. Organs, nerves, and the fascial lines can get restricted, limiting the range of movement of parts of our body like the leg, the head, the ribcage, or even the bowel etc. Sometimes nerves get squashed by the gluing of these tissues which can cause pain. Restricted areas often cause pain. Certain ailments can be happening that can slow or affect proper tissue formation, like diabetes or autoimmune conditions, but normally the body patches us up, it’s just usually not exactly like it was before.

Getting myofascial work/massage and cupping,

plus doing any recommended physical therapy can keep adhesions from causing issues. After most of the healing has occurred an injury to the tissues such as this massage can help to break up some of the chaotic collagen fibers that have been laid down. Massage and myofascial work can help to break up what was laid down (again) and sort of train the body to lay it down in a more realigned fashion with the muscle fibers or in the direction of fascial movement which can decrease pain and increase range of movement. We can also work with old scar tissue, it’s not too late to see improvement, break up old adhesions, and encourage the body to be more realigned. Abdominal massage can help with releasing adhesions from surgery, increasing organ vitality and movement. Yes, we want organs to move (a little)! Everything in the body should have movement to it. Health in the body equals movement. Stagnancy is where illness develops. Tissues, organs, fascia, muscle, blood, oxygen, and air all should be moving, or have the ability to move- even dance around inside our bodies. Adhesions can even develop on bone. Massage can help! Let’s get you moving again!

Do you have scars? Have you had surgery?

Thanks for reading and perhaps learning about how scar tissue and massage, myofascial bodywork, and cupping can help! Book a session at Yarrow and You. I have been working on people’s adhesions for 11 years now and counting! My office is located inside the Healthy Life Clinic, in Aurora, Oregon.