Scar massage?

Nulyte

Good morning- my PT mentioned I should be "massaging" my incisions. She got distracted and I forgot to ask but what exactly does that mean? After 4 weeks my surgeon has discharged me so I don take have anymore appts to ask her

Moderators

Hi Nulyte! Until you get responses from other members here, you may find this helpful: How to massage scar tissue?

Kind wishes,

The Mods

RebzAmy

I remember doing this. I believe it's to help flatten the scar down and stretch it a bit so that eventually once the redness fades, it becomes as flat as possible and looks as good as possible

amylsp

Hi Nulyte, I'm a massage therapist and definitely recommend massaging the incision. You can probably find some good videos on youtube. But scar massage is great and can help limit adhesions building up. As long as your incision is fully healed, get some good grade oil like almond, coconut or 'massage' oil. Gently work with your fingers both across the scar and along the scar, pulling it in all directions. Gently massage the entire area surrounding the scar using small circular pressure with your fingers and the palm of your hand. You might feel some soreness, tenderness or even mild stinging, but there should be no bruising or lasting soreness. I recommend massaging the incision everyday, a few times a day if you can! You don't even really need the oil, and might actually get a better stretch without it.

BlueGirlRedState

Does it become "too late" for massage to help. Dbl mastectomy end of November 2016, no reconstruction. After a couple of weeks, I started rubbing either alovera. or Acure lotion usually AM and PM, but not massaging. Doing stretch exercises daily. Initially felt a lot of tightness in surgery area as if a band stretched across chest, as well as occasional sharp sting where nipples used to be. No more stinging now, and not as tight. I do not expect scar to go away, but would like to flatten, less red, and make more pliable. Considering torso tattoo in a year or so, maybe monarchs.

MTwoman

BlueGirlRedState, I used silicon sheeting to knock down my scars as they were keloid scars and quite pronounced. No one told me about massage, unfortunately, so I now have an adhesion. It really does bother me, so I was wondering if there was something I could do about that. Does anyone know?