Abdominal surgery scars and back pain, can these be related?
Have you had abdominal surgery... perhaps an appendectomy, or a C section, or anything else? Do you have back pain?
Is there a connection between the two?
Well, if you back pain set on after abdominal surgery, then there is a real possibility that there is a connection.
Abdominal surgery (including that done laparoscopically, usually three small incisions which heal with hardly any trace) creates a lot of disruption in the body's tissue in the abdomen. Surgeons have to cut through layers of deep tummy muscles.
Most of the time, these muscles, whilst seemingly healing very nicely, are never the same in the neurological sense - they do not have the same smooth stretch and contraction quality as before they were cut.
The same, if not even more so, is true of any laparoscopy surgery. The invisible change to the structures of your tissues are all under the skin. You might not see it, but deep under the body has layered repaired tissue connections making it a lot more knotted. The body can be irritated by these scars, visible or deep, and how your muscles function is impacted.
Belly muscles wrap around our middle to meet at the back, stabilising lower backs. Lower belly muscles stabilise lower back areas (such as levels of L4 and lower, in anatomical terms... your lower lumbar spine, basically).
Any C-section scars cut through low abdominal areas which correspond to the levels of L4, L5, S1 vertebrae in the back, reducing protection for those through reduced tissue tension which pulls from the front into the back naturally.
Where do majority of disc herniations take place? That's right - L4. L5, S1.
Can you see the potential connection now?
Scar work preceding any abdominal strengthening work is a crucial input into your recovery. As a trained Neuro-Kinetic therapy practitioner, I can assess your scar for neurological over-activation, calm the tissue down, and restore better function of your abdominals so that they can better protect your back.
Let me know if you would like any help with this super important area!
Image credit - Jannes Jacobs
