There is nothing worse than a running injury that won’t heal. It does not matter how much ice, heat, or anti-inflammatories that you apply – nothing works! Sometimes a chronic injury that last months or even years with no end in sight. Repeated visits to doctors and physical therapists simply do not help. Chronic injury is a serious problem with many causes. One such cause is scar tissue.
When a muscle or tendon is damaged, the body tries to make repairs through scar tissue. Scar tissue has the short term benefit of immobilizing the area and preventing further damage. However, scar tissue also negative long term effects. The same attributes that immobilize the damaged muscle and tendon tissue also prevent the body from moving properly when the healing has completed.
Scar tissue strongly binds to tissues in the body and greatly constricts movement. The binding affect only increases over time as the scar tissue hardens. The decreased range of motion locks the muscles and tendons of the body in place and causes them to weaken. Without intervention, scar tissue has the potential to forever prevent you from running pain free.
The only way to escape the negative attributes of scar tissue is to physically break the hardened tissue up. Although it is possible to use self-massage to break scar tissue, this can be very difficult if the scaring is widespread and a lot of time has elapsed from the date of the initial injury. The best way to get rid of scar tissue is a see a deep tissue massage therapist who has experience dealing with sports injuries. Other practitioners who can help include Active Release Technique (ART) therapists, who specialize in mobilization techniques that can break down scar issue, and practitioners of the Rolfing technique, which focuses on separating fascia in the body to promote better movement.
Treating scar tissue can be a very painful experience because it is more sensitive to pain than healthy muscles and tendons in the body. However, the short term pain you experience will lead to long term health and better running.
