SCARS may cause problems long after you've "healed"

It is a natural part of the healing process for the body to lay down randomly placed fibers to reconnect the site of injury.  The formation of the scar depends on the size, depth, your ability to heal and age.

Scars can occur not only for cuts but micro-tears of muscle fibers during excessive activity (e.g. repetitive strain injury) and even by over-stretching.

How do scars effect you? 


The nature of the new connective tissue is to approximate the site of injury. This may cause shortening of the connective tissue depending on the severity of the injury, resulting in a decreased range of motion in that area. You may notice this when you touch the scar and try to move it relative to the tissue around it. It may not move as smoothly as the rest of your skin and even appear puckered.

Depending on the area of the scar, its limitations vary.

Let's take the thigh muscles (quads). If we were to have a scar on this muscle, it could limit one's ability to run/walk properly equally. On the leg with the scar, it may not allow for you to extend your leg back during your stride as much as the other leg. Resulting in an imbalanced gait and more work (larger stride) for the non-scarred leg. It may even result in knee pain, due to it limiting the movement of the knee cap that rests on the end of the thigh muscle.

How to ensure your scar doesn't create future injuries.


1) Allow the cut/injury to heal properly by resting and decreasing the inflammation (e.g. ice)
2) Check to see if your scar has any puckering or adherence to the surrounding tissues or have a Registered Health Practitioner (e.g. Registered Massage Therapist) check for you
3) Gently increase the mobility of the scar or have a Registered Massage Therapists that specialize in soft tissue mobilize it for you

Remember even old scars from years ago may still be causing you problems today! 

Do you have any interesting scars?

When the ICE pack frostBITES back!

It is always good to use REAL ice and not Gel packs to slow down the inflammation to the injury site. Gel packs are actually colder than ice (0 degrees) ranging as cold as -18 degrees Celsius. This can be an issue when you follow the traditional 10 minutes of icing, when the cold source is so much colder. 

Quick Tips when icing an injury:

1) Wrap the ice pack or ice cube with a towel and apply to skin (never have leave the ice directly on the skin to prevent frostbite)

2) Use ice (Frozen water) and not gel packs as the temperature is colder

3) ALWAYS monitor your site you are cooling as everyone's ability to cope with cold is different. Do a quick test of scraping/scratching the cooled area every couple minutes. When you scratch your skin and you do not feel it (numb). Take off the ice pack.

LiveStrong.com has an interesting article about ice pack burn and the symptoms to look for frostbite.

Have any of you suffered from frostbite due to icing an injury?

Knee Pain

Do you have pain on the outside part of your knee?

You may have iliotibial (IT) band friction syndrome. Your IT band is composed of strong fibers of connective tissue that start at your hip (tensor fascia lata) and runs deep into your thigh muscles and attaches to your tibia ("shin bone") with some fibers on the edge of your knee cap. The increase in muscular tension from your tensor fascia lata ("hip muscle") may cause pain at your knee, since there is a constant pull along the fibers from the hip to the knee cap. If overused in this state, it can cause irritation resulting in knee pain.

Do you have knee pain?
What have you been doing to cope with the pain?


Feel free to post any questions you may have.

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This blog will contain information about alternative health treatments and health information that may help improve your quality of living!