Invisible Scar Tissue

Scar tissue is not always visible.  A couple of years ago, I had laparoscopic gallbladder removal. I came home with a couple of tiny incision wounds on my abdomen. As I recovered, I felt a tight cordlike substance passing vertically underneath my abdominal muscles. It was so hard that I suspected they left some kind of instrument or shunt there. At a follow-up visit, the surgeon was happy to see the quick healing of the wounds. “I can barely see the incisions,” he said. I asked if he had placed something in my abdominal cavity. He assured me that nothing was left there and I was healing very well. Still the tight cord in my abdomen remained. In Yoga classes, I couldn’t do wheel pose anymore.

From the viewpoint of body worker, the surgeon was wrong. He left a long scar inside of my abdomem when he pulled out my gallbladder.  The scar tissue was not visible from outside, and it still restricted the movement of fascia on the right side of body. It took me almost a year to break down the scar tissue somewhat so that I could be in a wheel pose again without restriction.  I still feel it, though.

Scar tissue, if not addressed, will affect the whole body, and the invisible ones are more difficult to treat.  Your entire body has to accomodate the restriction imposed by the scar tissue.

Psychological scars are like invisible scar tissue.