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Scar Scepticism: what’s the big deal with scarring? · MSKMag OutLoud

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  SPEAKER_00: Scar Skepticism.
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  SPEAKER_00: What's the big deal with scarring?
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  SPEAKER_00: Written by Hannah Poulton.
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  SPEAKER_00: You may already be treating scars.
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  SPEAKER_00: You may not.
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  SPEAKER_00: You may have no idea that treating scars is even a treatment.
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  SPEAKER_00: You could have been in your profession for decades and have no reason to believe
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  SPEAKER_00: that assessing or treating a scar is required.
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  SPEAKER_00: You may have built your business on the treatment and scarring.
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  SPEAKER_00: You may think scar massage is just the emperor's new clothes treatment,
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  SPEAKER_00: another hands-on treatment fad which will pass in time.
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  SPEAKER_00: You may be scar sceptical.
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  SPEAKER_00: You may not.
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  SPEAKER_00: So let's have a look at scarring,
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  SPEAKER_00: through a clinical reasoning lens,
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  SPEAKER_00: by reviewing the evidence,
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  SPEAKER_00: understanding anatomy and piecing together what we already know to see
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  SPEAKER_00: if scar therapy intervention has a place in our treatment toolbox.
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  SPEAKER_00: I'm sure we can all agree that scars exist.
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  SPEAKER_00: They are the body's natural healing response when the skin,
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  SPEAKER_00: surrounding and or deeper tissues are cut, damaged or traumatised in some way.
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  SPEAKER_00: This has been happening since the dawn of time.
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  SPEAKER_00: We can't stop the body forming a scar,
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  SPEAKER_00: but we can influence what happens to the scar once it's formed.
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  SPEAKER_00: Before we investigate this question, we need to understand if scars have any impact at all.
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  SPEAKER_00: A scar is not simply a line on the skin.
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  SPEAKER_00: One reason scar skepticism persists may be the tendency to view the scar as
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  SPEAKER_00: a superficial structure.
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  SPEAKER_00: The visible scar is only one manifestation of tissue injury and repair.
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  SPEAKER_00: Following surgery,
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  SPEAKER_00: the healing response involves inflammation,
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  SPEAKER_00: fibroblast activity, extracellular matrix deposition, and remodeling.
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  SPEAKER_00: Tissue properties can change during this process including pliability,
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  SPEAKER_00: thickness, and mechanical behavior.
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  SPEAKER_00: The superficial scar may also extend beyond the skin and cause adhesions.
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  SPEAKER_00: In abdominal and pelvic surgery,
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  SPEAKER_00: for example,
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  SPEAKER_00: healing occurs across multiple tissue planes
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  SPEAKER_00: and post-operative adhesions may develop.
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  SPEAKER_00: Importantly, an adhesion is not synonymous with pain.
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  SPEAKER_00: The existence of adhesions does not establish that they are clinically relevant to
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  SPEAKER_00: an individual's symptoms.
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  SPEAKER_00: This is where precision in language becomes essential.
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  SPEAKER_00: Instead of saying,
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  SPEAKER_00: the scar has caused adhesions and the adhesions are causing the patient's pain,