c-section

incisional pain

cesarean incision pain can be responsible for pain that is not just at the incision site

You just went through major abdominal surgery and should receive guidance on how to appropriate rehab yourself to get back to your goals.

During a c-section 7 layers of tissue are cut through to get the baby out; 7 layers! Scar tissue is formed at all of the sites to aid in healing however scar tissue has less blood flow and less mobility which can result in an overall decrease in mobility in the area as well as some of those layers getting stuck to each other.

This can result in pain locally at the incision but can also cause pain/dysfunction elsewhere; some examples are pain with sex, urinary urgency/frequency as well as low back pain.

Let our experts Help!

Our Doctors of Physical Therapy are pelvic floor specialists as well as pregnancy and postpartum corrective exercise specialists. We will assess mobility of your scar as well as the layers beneath it along with the rest of your body to get you back to feeling 100%.

A typical treatment for c-section incisional pain could include

  • Manual therapy can include scar massage and desensitization, myofascial release to the abdomen as well as viseral mobilizations to your bladder and uterus to ensure all layers of your abdomen can move.

  • Specific mobility exercises will be given for your scar as well as other areas that are lacking.

  • After pregnancy and then a c-section we want to make sure we can get muscles functioning optimlly again especially your abdominals.

  • We will educate you on all of our findings in our evaluation and then on how you can help improve your c-section incision pain at home, including ways to protect the healing tissue.

  • Making sure we manage pressure appropriately our abdomen is really important after a c-section. We still want to protect healing tissue therefore learning how to minimize extra strain to the area is vital.

  • Dry Needling is can be a good way to decrease scar tissue at the incision. This is typically used as healing has progressed and not done initially. Learn more about what Dry Needling is.