Marianne Martinovic, a registered massage therapist at Oona, shares insights on how massage therapy can aid in c section scar healing after the six-week checkup. She demonstrates steps and tips for caring for the scar, including techniques for scar mobilization. Visit us at oonacares.com in Toronto and Newmarket for massage therapy and scar tissue release.
Transcription:
0:02: Hi, everyone.
0:03: My name is Marianne.
0:04: I’m a registered massage therapist and I work with the Oona Wellness Group here in Toronto on the Queensway in the West End.
0:12: Today, we’re here to talk about what a massage therapist can do for you for your C-section scar.
0:18: So the first thing we recommend is that you wait for your six-week follow-up with your OB or your midwife to make sure that there are no concerns, that there’s no infection that’s lingering with your scar itself.
0:29: And then when you book with us, we want to get a visual of what’s going on with the scar first, an assessment we call objective notes.
0:37: So, when we look at the scar, we wanna see, is it thin?
0:42: Is it thick?
0:43: Is it even?
0:44: Is it symmetrical?
0:46: Is it thicker on one side, thinner on the other?
0:49: Is there pulling more on one side?
0:51: Is it one side more elevated than the other?
0:54: Is it sunken?
0:55: Is it tethered?
0:56: , so these are all things that we wanna get, before we actually start to work on the scar itself.
1:04: And then we wanna get some subjective notes from you.
1:07: What is your experience of the C-section?
1:10: Is it emotionally charged?
1:13: What’s happening from your perspective?
1:15: Do you experience pain?
1:17: Numbness, tethering, does one side feel different than the other?
1:22: Do you experience any pain that you never experienced, like when you engage, for example, to your core or your abdominal muscles.
1:31: So, what do we do as massage therapists?
1:33: We do what we call myofascial release.
1:37: Watching somebody do myofascial release is kind of like watching grass grow.
1:42: So when I do the demo, it’s gonna be in fast motion.
1:46: So fascia.
1:48: It’s connective tissue that surrounds every cell, organ, every muscle in the body, and it Had a lot of interest in the 90s, curiosities that scientists had around, well, what role does fascia play in Pain and pain management.
2:11: And it was in 2003, a German biologist by the name of Doctor Robert Schlap, he was actually able to prove that myofascia or fascia has nerve endings.
2:23: So this is a game changer, this idea of no pain, no gain, which very much still lingers in the body work world.
2:30: , it is not necessary to make a difference.
2:34: So, when you’re working on your own self-care, which is very similar to what we do and what you can do on your own in between appointments, there doesn’t have to be pain or inflammation involved.
2:45: It’s quite gentle.
2:47: So I’m just gonna pause here and then we’re gonna do the demo itself.
2:54: OK, so here we are with our demo.
2:58: This is how it would look in the clinical sense.
3:02: We’re gonna work a little bit higher than what we normally would just for the sake of discretion in this demo.
3:09: First thing I do is work further away from the scar tissue, opposite leg, opposite abdomen, connect with the tissue.
3:18: We as practitioners wait for a release.
3:21: It could be lengthening, softening, or a heat release.
3:25: Opposite side.
3:28: Then I like to put the palm of my hand on the scar itself, challenge it upward, downward.
3:36: Left and right rotation.
3:39: We can use our thumbs to anchor.
3:42: On both sides of the scar, challenging it inward, outward, in an S motion.
3:50: Then as we get closer to the scar itself, we work, start on one side and try and release it again, away.
3:58: And toward the scar itself in different directions, cause that’s what we want to do with myofascial rhythms.
4:05: One of the things that I do in clinic as well is I use the silicone cuts.
4:10: They come in a group of 4.
4:12: You can get them in any Professional, massage or body work type store.
4:19: These are safe to use at home as well because there’s a limit to how much you can suction, so they’re quite nice.
4:26: Put a little lotion on the abdomen.
4:29: Get your little bit of suction, challenge the tissue.
4:33: Circular motion, up and down, left and right.
4:37: You can use the smaller cups to anchor on both sides of the scar.
4:42: Leave it there, wait for a release.
4:44: Take again the smaller ones, go over the scar, get your little bit of suction, go over the scar lengthwise, zigzag, little Xs and challenge it in different directions.
4:56: The other thing I get asked is, well, what else can I do?
4:59: Well, you can add castor oil to the scar itself.
5:04: Don’t put too much on cause you don’t want it to get too messy.
5:07: Leave it on for a couple hours during the day.
5:10: Don’t complicate matters.
5:11: And the last thing you can do is add Helic crease or frankincense, those are your two top oils for scars.
5:20: You can put it in your castor oil and dilute it or place it directly on the scar.
5:25: Just start with a little area, make sure that you’re not allergic.
5:27: You can combine it with other oils or just put it on direct.
5:33: So I hope this video was helpful.
5:35: It was so nice to work with you.
5:39: I wish you well on this health journey, and we look so forward to working with you at Una.
5:47: You have yourself a great rest of the day.
5:49: Bye for now.
