Scar Tissue and You – What Your Muscles Want You To Know

Anyone who is physically active has probably, at some point, pulled, strained or maybe even torn a muscle.  So you ice the area down, restrict movement, use a compression bandage and get some extra rest.  All the things you’re supposed to do, right?  Well, almost all the things you should do.  Let’s talk about what happens in your body as it starts the healing process.

Two or three days after the injury, while your injured muscle is still inflamed and painful, the repair process has already started.  New blood vessels have started to form around the edge of the injury site. After about another five days, new tissue is produced.  This amazing repair process will probably continue for several more weeks.

The new tissue that your body has created is known as scar tissue. This new tissue is made of a very brittle, inflexible fibrous material that simply doesn’t have the same properties as the original muscle tissue that was injured.  During the healing process, the developing scar tissue knits together with the damaged tissue, surrounding the injury with a thick mass of movement-restricting scar tissue.

Now, here’s one of the most important bits of information you may ever receive about muscle injuries.  If not exercised regularly, scar tissue will shrink and shorten, leading to a reduction in flexibility of the muscle.  This can cause muscle pain, stiffness and weakness, and will, unfortunately, also make the injured muscle much more susceptible to re-injury.  That’s why so many people who hurt their shoulder, back or leg seem to always be getting hurt all over again – in the very same spot.  Scar tissue!

To avoid these re-injury problems, you should start exercising to stretch and strengthen the healing muscle tissue as soon as possible.  But you also need to choose your exercise regimen wisely.  Many professionals in both the medical and fitness fields agree that isometric exercise is your best choice to strengthen injured muscles and restore flexibility. 

So what are isometric exercises?  Simply put, they involve applying force to a resistant object - for instance, pushing against a brick wall.  While there’s no actual movement, the tension that builds up in the muscles increases muscle strength and helps keep scar tissue to a minimum.  Remember, to be effective you should maintain your position in any one exercise for around eight seconds.  Be sure to repeat the isometric exercise at least five times, each time ensuring maximum muscular contraction. 

Deep tissue massage is also very effective in breaking up scar tissue, and it’s something you can do yourself.  You don’t need to be a licensed massage therapist - just follow these simple steps.  Your injured muscle is probably still fairly tender, so start with light, gentle strokes on the affected area.  Use your fingertips as well as your knuckles, moving up and down the muscle, making sure to focus on the areas where it feels like there is more binding of the tissues.  Gradually increase the amount of pressure being applied until you’re using deep, firm strokes.  You can finish by doing a gentle massage on the area to calm it down.  After massaging your injured muscle tissue, you should apply moist heat on the area for about 20 minutes to increase blood circulation and carry away the toxins that are released as the scar tissue breaks up.

One last word for you as you begin your isometric exercise and deep tissue massage regimen – hydrate!  Your body will tend to heal much faster and you’ll find you have more energy with a plentiful supply of that life-giving liquid, H₂O.