If you have read any of my numerous posts on
INFLAMMATION, you are probably aware that it is at the root of almost every single health issue you can name — even many that have been previously believed to be “
GENETIC“. In today’s post, I am not so interested in the heart and nerve tissue mentioned mentioned in the quote from above. I am, however,
extremely interested in discussing
SCAR TISSUE that tends to develop in muscles and
FASCIA. This is because a significant part of my practice is spent dealing with chronic musculoskeletal conditions that are related to adhesions, fibrosis, and scarring of Connective Tissue (
HERE is a partial list).
Don’t get me wrong. Scar Tissue and TENDINOSIS almost always have some sort of mechanical trigger. In other words, things like traumatic injury, WHIPLASH, repetitive work, heavy lifting, POOR POSTURES, etc, can all cause Scar Tissue to form. However, when Inflammation is present in significant amounts, the problems created by this Scar Tissue can be greatly magnified because the amount of Scar Tissue has the potential to be so much greater. In fact, they can sometimes be impossible to resolve without dealing with the underlying Inflammation. To better understand what this combination of Inflammation and Scar Tissue does to people, why it might be causing pain, as well as why static tests such as MRI or X-rays are not going to show you much as making a diagnosis is concerned, take a few seconds to look at these Ultrasounds of Thoracolumbar Fascia (the arrow in the image above is pointing to the Thoracolumbar Fascia). The videos come from a study called Reduced Thoracolumbar Fascia Shear Strain in Human Chronic Low Back Pain, that was published in the September 2011 issue of Biomed Central Musculoskeletal Disorders.
Play these videos at the same time and watch the difference between the two. No wonder the study’s conclusions chalk at least part of the difference up to, “
intrinsic connective tissue pathology“. This “
pathology” is what I have been referring to as “
FASCIAL ADHESIONS” for years (usually in the office, I simply refer to it as Scar Tissue). The thing you have to remember is that Connective Tissues such as Fascia are ubiquitous in the body — they are literally found everywhere. Due to several reasons, but mostly because of our ridiculously cruddy and processed diets, Systemic Inflammation has become nearly ubiquitous in our modern society as well, and can be found in almost everyone (see
FRIDAY’S POST). These Connective Tissue adhesions and restrictions have the ability to perpetuate the whole process and make it worse than ever — causing even more Inflammation, which causes more fibrosis and adhesion. Repeat ad infinitum. This is one of the reasons that for those of you struggling with
CHRONIC PAIN, it is critical to understand the ins and outs of Inflammation. If not, it becomes increasingly unlikely that you will find resolution and lasting relief.
The truth of the matter is that this post could have been about almost any disease process. In other words, “There is much more (insert your DISEASE OF CHOICE HERE) than there used to be due to Chronic Systemic Inflammation“. If you are interested in squelching this Inflammation, HERE are a series of posts that will help you get started.
