Did you know there is a chance you are living with abdominal adhesions right now and you don’t even know it? When you have trauma or surgery in your abdomen or pelvis, you run the risk of developing abdominal adhesions.
What are Abdominal Adhesions?
Bands of internal scar tissue known as abdominal adhesions develop between your intestines and other abdominal organs. Adhesions develop to aid the body’s recovery following surgery, an infection, or trauma. They can also form following an injury, illness, or radiation exposure. In other words, you did nothing to generate these abdominal adhesions. They are a typical part of the healing process following surgery.
What can Cause Abdominal Adhesions?
Although abdominal adhesions form within a few days of surgery, symptoms may not manifest for months or even years. They can develop as a result of:
- Infection
- C-section/pregnancy
- EDS
- Surgery incisions
- Injury/inflammation
- Trauma to the area
Scar tissue is formed by your body when it heals, thus it is possible that scar tissue will form if the tissues inside your tummy or pelvis are damaged. Scar tissue is typical. Scars can appear on your skin as well as inside your body.
What Symptoms do Adhesions Cause?
Everyone is affected differently by adhesions. Many patients have no symptoms at all. Some only have a few symptoms that disturb them. Others experience symptoms that interfere with their daily lives.
Internal tissues and organs are normally made up of slippery surfaces that prevent them from adhering together and allow them to shift readily as the body moves. Abdominal adhesions, on the other hand, cause tissues and organs in the abdominal cavity to adhere together. Additionally, they have the capacity to displace the small and large intestines, leading to an obstruction inside. This could potentially lead to pain, autonomic dysfunction, gut problems, bowel obstructions, and other complications.
How do You Identify and Treat?
At PARR PT, we address abdominal issues, using visceral manipulation, which allows the fascia to be more neutral and not tug on any organs or tissues. This technique assists us in determining which fascial regions are creating the abdominal adhesions. We can then identify how to begin resolving abdominal adhesions by specialized treatments to determine the area of most constriction.
Next Steps
If you are dealing with abdominal adhesions, myokinesthetic technique, visceral manipulation, and specialized physical therapy treatments could be a huge help and provide you with a lot of relief!
We hope that this blog and video have given you a better understanding of what abdominal adhesions entail and how we treat them in our clinic. This overview only touches the surface of adhesions. If you’re interested in learning more about what we do or scheduling a session, please get in touch with us here. You can always visit our YouTube channel, where we provide more useful tips and tricks.