Scar tissue treatment with acupuncture

Many years ago in my young years as a physiotherapist and acupuncturist I had a client who visited me for physiotherapy treatments of her neck pain. Her assessment showed no apparent onset, the location was diffuse, the pain was rather dull, posture assessment didn’t show any real issues, muscle and joint testing were normal.

I treated her with physiotherapy, muscle relaxing techniques and gentle mobilization of the cervical spine.

Foot receiving scar tissue acupuncture

After 3 treatments without improvement or any change I knew this wasn’t normal. I told her that physiotherapy might not be the right solution for her problem. After discussing it with her she agreed to try some acupuncture sessions.

While doing a full body examination I found a small scar on her abdomen. From a minor surgery many years ago she told me. Although the scar looked quite good, I asked her is she was ok treating the scar with acupuncture, she said it was ok. That treatment I only treated the scar.

On her next appointment, her 4th one, she was very excited to let me know that the day after the last treatment, the acupuncture of the scar, her pain and discomfort completely disappeared, her complaints were all gone. I decided to treat the scar one more time. Her pain and discomfort never returned.

About 8 months later I coincidently saw her at a supermarket and asked her about her neck. She told me her neck was doing great and never since caused her any discomfort.

Scar acupuncture

Of course, not every scar tissue treatment has a spectacular outcome like the above case, but it made me notice and treat scars much more often. This particular case clearly showed me that scars can cause energetic disturbances anywhere in the body, not necessarily in the direct surrounding of the scar. As one of my Chinese mentors told me, scars cause disconnection in meridians causing energy to stagnate, this can cause problems along the meridian, its collaterals or on organ level.

Giving more attention to scars and their treatment I started to attract a different kind of clients in my clinic, people who specifically come for scar treatment. All sort of scars. People who came after orthopedic surgery, moms after c-section, women who had a mammectomy or mastectomy but also women to treat their scar from breast enhancement, abdominal or spine surgery, scars from trauma, new scars and old scars, contracture, hypertrophic or keloid scars.

Often the first consideration for people to have their scar treated is cosmetic, scars that are visible or very private, sometimes there are practical considerations, when a scar contracts so much it causes pain or limitation of movement, or when it’s adhered to other structures or tissues like muscle or bone.

Over the course of treatment of scar tissue the scar tissue improves, its color will change, it will contract less, become less painful or less hindering, it will become smoother. But almost all the people I treat for their scars report positive “side effects”. Usually after a few treatments, 4 or 5, they will mention something like ‘since I’m coming here I started to sleep better’ or ‘my digestion improved since you’re treating my scar, is that possible?’ or ‘my scar got better but also my brain fog disappeared’

I am not saying that all scars are causing problems in your body but when you have some vague complaints, sleeping, digestion, concentration problems or difficulty focussing, it’s certainly worth having your scars treated.

Now I ask every client wether she/he has scars so I can take a look at them and probably treat them together with their initial issue.

If you have a scar and you don't like its appearance, or you just want to have it treated to minimize possible energetic or functional disturbances it may cause anywhere in your body, don't hesitate to contact us and book your scar treatment.

#acupuncture #scartreatment