Scars – signs of days gone by
What scars have to do with pain and the ability to move and perform
{%CAPTION%}
In addition to its main functions, each organ always has a connection to the central and peripheral nervous system (abbreviated CNS and PNS). You could also say that there is mutual communication between every organ and every cell in the human body. This means that even structures that appear to function separately from each other influence each other.
As one of the largest organs, the skin plays an important role for the nervous system, as we absorb crucial environmental information through the skin. In fact, the skin is the organ that is most exposed to the environment. Scars affect the integrity of the skin, as they are usually not just superficial but deep tissue injuries in all directions. Therefore, the underlying fascia tissue is also affected, which plays an important role in pain and also in our musculoskeletal system.
With every movement of the trunk or extremities, the so-called myofascia must glide around the muscles, bones and joints. In the event of mobility restrictions such as scars or trigger points, the suppleness and gliding ability of the myofasciae is restricted; they then become “matted” and send faulty signals to the brain. This has a negative impact on movement control and leads to a lack of stabilization in various areas of the body, such as the trunk.
What does all this mean?
One example is the classic caesarean section in women, which represents a deep tissue injury due to the severing of all abdominal layers. This weakens the control of muscle groups that stabilize the spine and pelvis, such as the transverse abdominal muscles. The body must now compensate for this, for example by increasing muscle tension in the back extensor muscles and/or the diaphragm. This temporarily provides more stability in the torso, which initially protects the body. In the long term, however, the excess tension in the back and diaphragm leads to incorrect breathing patterns and tension pain in the back, which often cannot be satisfactorily improved using traditional methods.
A treatment that only focuses on the “back”, the “tension” or only “the scar” (if at all) cannot improve the faulty movements, as it does not address the movement control.
This is where a neuro-based approach comes into play, which can be used to assess the “signal quality” of superficial and deep tissue. A scar can even send faulty signals to the CNS in certain directions, so-called vectors.
{%CAPTION%}
With the help of neurological test protocols, it is possible to identify this specific tissue direction that negatively affects the central nervous system.
The correction of incorrect movement patterns caused by a neuronal tissue disorder can sometimes produce very impressive results. The image below shows the shoulder mobility (internal rotation) of a handball athlete before and after such a correction. As muscle tone and joint mobility are primarily controlled neuronally, they can also be influenced by changes in the skin and connective tissue.
The scar on the forearm shown in the picture on the right, which originated from an older fracture, was neurologically “overactive” in a certain direction of movement, which upset the muscle balance in the equilateral shoulder girdle. Correct treatment of the neurological misalignment of the scar not only significantly improved passive mobility in the glenohumeral joint (shoulder joint), but also the general function and range of motion in the entire shoulder girdle.
Our nervous system can therefore ensure that our body is blocked in various areas.
If a car is not driving correctly and the mechanic discovers a broken part, this part can be repaired. However, if the handbrake remains engaged, the new part won’t do much good either…
Here are two more scientific articles that deal with this topic:
