What does internal scar tissue feel like?

Author: Maximus Brekke IV  |  Last update: Monday, December 8, 2025

Indications of Internal Scar Tissue: Persistent or recurrent pain in a specific area, particularly after surgery, trauma, or inflammation. Changes in organ function or symptoms such as difficulty swallowing, breathing, or gastrointestinal issues. Restricted range of motion or stiffness in joints or muscles.

How do you know if you have internal scar tissue?

Scar tissue forms after an injury and can develop on the skin's surface or inside the body. For some people, scar tissue may cause pain, tightness, itching, or difficulty moving. Due to how scar tissue matures, these symptoms may occur years after an injury.

What does deep scar tissue feel like?

With deeper scar tissue, Yueh says, patients complain about a sense of tightness rather than sharp pain. “That tightness can translate to soreness, to pain and to difficulty making a tight fist,” she says.

Does scar tissue feel like a lump?

You may feel bumps and lumps under the skin. This is normal and is due to the dissolvable sutures under the surface of the skin. These deep sutures take months to completely dissolve and the scar will not be smooth until this time.

How do you get rid of internal scar tissue?

What are the best methods for scar tissue removal?
  1. Manual Therapy. Manual therapy – Applying the right force in the right direction can prevent tissue restriction. ...
  2. Topical Solutions. ...
  3. Laser Therapy. ...
  4. Surgery. ...
  5. Compression. ...
  6. Steroid Injection.

Laparoscopic Adhesiolysis & What does scar tissue feel like?- Dr. Sireesha Reddy

When is it too late to massage scar tissue?

For best results, you should perform scar massage for at least 10 minutes, twice a day, for six months. You should only stop sooner than that if the scar starts showing signs of infection or you experience intolerable discomfort.

How do you get rid of internal abdominal scar tissue?

If abdominal adhesions cause symptoms or complications, doctors can release the adhesions with laparoscopic or open surgery. However, surgery to treat adhesions may cause new adhesions to form. If you have abdominal adhesions, talk with your doctor about the possible benefits and risks of surgery.

Does internal scar tissue keep growing?

Why internal scars won't stop growing. Normal scar tissue forms to heal an internal wound and quietly retreats when the job is done. But in many common diseases — kidney, liver and lung fibrosis — the scar tissue goes rogue and strangles vital organs. These diseases are largely untreatable and ultimately fatal.

What causes scar tissue to flare up?

The most common cause of surgical scar pain after surgery is a nerve that is injured or stuck in scar tissue. You may not only experience pain from scar tissue, but may also have swelling, itching, and increased sensitivity.

How can you tell the difference between scar tissue and a tumor?

A key feature is that scar tissue typically has irregular borders as opposed to smooth borders of many neoplasms.

Can exercise break up scar tissue?

Additionally, physical therapy can help to reduce the risk of scar tissue build up and break up any scar tissue that is already there.

Can you feel abdominal scar tissue?

In most people, abdominal adhesions do not cause any symptoms. Adhesions that partially block the intestine from time to time can cause intermittent bouts of crampy abdominal pain. More significant intestinal obstruction can cause the following symptoms: Severe, crampy abdominal pain.

How long does scar tissue take to form internally?

Scar tissue typically begins to form the first day after surgery, but it may not produce symptoms for months, years — or ever.

Does internal scar tissue show up on xray?

Diagnosis of adhesions

Diagnostic tests such as blood tests, x-ray procedures, CT scans, MRIs and ultrasound will not diagnose adhesions.

Can adhesions be massaged away?

Massage is a way of softening and flattening scars and reducing the adhesions between the different layers of the tissue, making the scar tissue more flexible. It can also help alleviate any itching and over-sensitivity of the scar.

What does scar tissue feel like to touch?

Scar tissue can have a local area of pain when touched or stretched or it can produce a referred pain that feel like that of a nerve which is a constant annoying burn that occasionally turns sharp.

What does muscle fibrosis feel like?

One of the primary effects of fibrosis in a muscle is a loss of strength and flexibility. The scar tissue can restrict movement and limit the muscle's ability to contract and relax properly, which can lead to pain and stiffness.

What does pain from adhesions feel like?

However, they can cause kinks or twists in the gut, reducing the movement of the gut, causing obstruction and other symptoms, including recurrent episodes of colicky (cramping) abdominal pain, bloating, nausea (feeling sick), vomiting (being sick) and a change in stool frequency and consistency.

What helps break up internal scar tissue?

Stretching and flexibility exercises are other common ways to help scar tissue repair. It can aid in the lengthening of wounded tissues as well as their general mobility. Your physical therapist is likely to include scar massage and stretches in your rehabilitation regimen if you've had an accident or surgery.

What is the best pain relief for abdominal adhesions?

Put a heating pad set on low on your belly to relieve mild cramps and pain. Put a thin cloth between the heating pad and your skin.

What foods should you avoid with adhesions?

Foods to avoid

White varieties of bread and baked goods such as wraps, crumpets, scones, chapattis (avoid any crusts). Plain cakes made with white flour, e.g. Victoria Sandwich, Madeira. Wholemeal and granary bread and baked produces, fruit scones, teacakes, fruit cakes, cakes containing nuts.

What does scar tissue in your stomach feel like?

The pain comes in various forms: constant, related to eating meals, related to exercising, lying down or sitting for a long time. Often this pain is caused by abdominal adhesions, which are bands of internal scar tissue which have formed at the site of past surgeries.

What are the signs of a blocked bowel?

Signs and symptoms of intestinal obstruction include:
  • Crampy abdominal pain that comes and goes.
  • Loss of appetite.
  • Constipation.
  • Vomiting.
  • Inability to have a bowel movement or pass gas.
  • Swelling of the abdomen.

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