C-Section Scars

C-sections are one of the most commonly performed abdominal surgeries, comprising between 25%-30% of deliveries in Canada. It is well known that c-sections can cause many health problems, including back pain. But many people giving birth are not educated about the lasting effects that the scar can have. Pain and/or numbness around the c-sectrion scar itself is only one of the many far ranging negative effects of this scar tissue.

Scar tissue can:

• adhere layers of abdominal muscles to each other reducing their action and creating core instability. If you are 
• Create fascial distortions causing postural issues and motor control problems throughout the body
• Impinge nervbes causing numbness or increased sensitivity and pain
• Adhere internal organs to each other and surrounding tissues, causing problems with the functioning of these organs and leading to problems like incontinence, digestive issues, menstrual pain, and chronic infections=
• Block lymphatic drainage, which slows the healing process and causing tenderness and swelling

C-section scars also commonly affect hip mobility and stability, create a feeling of anterior hip stiffness, they can affect shoulder movement, create neck pain, and produce pelvic floor symptoms like incontinence, constipation, or diarrhea, as well as contribute to foot problems and knee pain among other things. 

I have found, in my practice, that C-section scars lead to more discomfort, hip pain, back pain, and postural issues than other lower abdominal scars do. Why?

1. New parents often do not have time to rest and heal immediately after this major surgery.⁠
2. They have the additional load on their damaged core muscles of carrying a baby.⁠
3. Physiotherapy or other types of rehab are rarely assigned after c-sections; there is little or no education given about how to care for the surgical wound or the scar afterwards.⁠
4. C-sections can be emergency procedures in which the patient is already in a state of deep stress before the surgery begins, causing additional scar tissue to be laid down in response to the stress.