Cesarean Scar Healing - Personal Experiences
*Important - the information in this blog post is NOT medical advice and is not a replacement for medical advice. Please consult with your doctor, midwife, and/or pelvic floor physical therapist.
A few weeks ago, a mama reached out to me on Instagram, asking the following question:
“I’m hoping you can help me connect with some other mamas. I’m pregnant with my second child (had a c-section with the first) and I recently found out during my ultrasound that I might have some adhesions/scar tissue. Specifically, my intestines may be stuck to my incision. I have reached out to all of my friends who had c-sections and none of them this issue. I’ve also searched the internet and can’t find much information. I would really love to connect with other moms who have experienced this.”
I posted her question on my Instagram stories and several of you reached out to me, explaining that you’ve dealt with something similar! Many of you also asked for me to share responses. Below, you will find a handful of the responses I received and that I am sharing (anonymously) with permission:
I don’t know that I necessarily have had my intestines stuck to the scar tissue but I’ve had a lot of scar tissue pain until 10-11 weeks postpartum and still have a small scar tissue bump on my right side where the pain was. There are specialized c-section centers that help with that! I am going to an appointment for that tomorrow actually. I live in Dallas, I bet she can try to find something like that in her area maybe! My midwife recommended the center. I was shocked at how little my OB knew about this issue actually when I went back to them for my pain after so long. It must not be super common.
If you've had surgery of any kind, you have scar tissue. It's just a part of it. But not everyone has scar tissue that adheres to organs. Castor Oil packs can help to prevent that but I'm not sure if it's too late at this point for her. Definitely worth looking into though!
She can find a pelvic floor physical therapist to help with visceral mobilization. It helps the most before pregnancy but also a little during pregnancy.
I've been seeing a pelvic floor therapist who has been breaking down my scar tissue on my scar. It's extremely painful but has helped so much with the icky, sticky feeling that I was having after my c-section. I'm nine months postpartum.
I am also a c-section mama with a lot of scar tissue. Ours was an unplanned c section with a complication, so unfortunately the recovery was a bit tougher than anticipated. I’ve personally found active release therapy, massage therapy, acupuncture, cupping therapy, and Graston to be very helpful. I’m not sure where the person is located who is looking for help, but in addition to my own recovery journey, I am also a chiropractor and acupuncturist who treats postpartum patients. I’m happy to chat more with them if you want to pass my profile along.
I have a ton of scar tissue too. In fact, my right psoas was caught in it, and I couldn’t extend my hip for a long time. I still have bladder spasms from what I assume is my bladder adhered to my abdominal wall. I also have uncommon nerve damage because my incision was cut too wide by the resident. Worth it to get my breech baby here safely but still sucks.
Yes, mine adhered to my abdominal wall. My subsequent pregnancy caused it to un-adhere. It was very painful when I ovulated. I’d swell on my left side where it adhered.
I had an emergency c-section with my first child and a planned one the second time last year in June. No one informed me that I had a lot of scar tissue until during and after the procedure. It took longer than expected, as I had so much scar tissue and they explained to me that some organs were stuffed together. I can’t really remember the exact explanation and I asked if it had anything to do with weight and they said no, that some people have it more than others and some don’t. But this put me off thinking of having a third baby, as c-sections can be risky as it is and I wouldn't want to have another one because of the scar tissue issue too. I even tried Googling about it and there isn’t a lot of information.
I have this issue! I also have Stage 4 Endometriosis though. My surgeon cut out as much scar tissue from my incision as she could when she excised my endometrial tissue.
I am pregnant with my third pregnancy. My other two pregnancies were by emergency c-sections and I found my stomach was stuck to my wound. So when I had my second child, they had to un-stick this in order to get to the baby. Now I am pregnant with my third and I am also worried this has happened again and would also like to talk to someone about it. There isn’t much information. I’m very anxious about this third pregnancy and pray all goes well, especially with the planned c-section this time.
I had a c-section but don’t have this problem (that I know of). As a nurse, I know that happens sometimes with abdominal surgeries. Not sure what they do in the field of Obstetric Medicine but in the regular medicine world, this usually goes undiagnosed unless it causes other medical problems. If it causes other medical problems, they do a laparoscopic surgery called “lysis of adhesions”(LOA) to break that scar tissue up. I wonder if she had a second c-section, if could they perform the “LOA” during that?
I had a c-section and have developed a keloid (raised) scar. I’m seventeen months postpartum and still having issues. I’ve been seeing a pelvic floor physical therapist who’s been helping. She does massage and gives me exercises to do. I’ve had a lot of pain and discomfort on the scar itself and internally. Also, I have pain with sex due to the scar.
I’ve had scar tissue and adhesion issues as well. I have done:
1. Pelvic floor physical therapy to help heal my abs which pulled less on my scar.
2. Scar tissue massage from physical therapy and am working my way through a c-section recovery plan from a kinesiologist and Physical Therapy specialist Nancy Anderson.
3. ElectroLymphatic massage - from an ELT specialist that has helped move the lymph fluid that is trapped due to where the scar is and it’s also helped break up the adhesions.
I hope this is helpful for you and at the very least, that it lets you know that you’re NOT alone if your struggling with c-section scar issues. Again, if you’re having issues with or concerned about the way your scar is healing, please reach out to your doctor or midwife and see if you can get a referral to pelvic floor physical therapy.
Also, here are some of the top pelvic floor physical therapist accounts I recommend checking out on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/thekegelchronicles
https://www.instagram.com/expectingandempowered
https://www.instagram.com/empower.your.pelvis
https://www.instagram.com/mypelvicfloormuscles
Do you or did you have issues with your c-section scar? Did you try something to help? If so, what helped you? Please let me know in the comments.
~ Olena
