William53

Hi,

Apologies if this is the wrong forum to post this question on.

I survived a knife attack followed by emergency surgery in South America a couple of decades ago. Since then, until 2008, I've led a sedentary life style and not been smart with my food choices. Now, finally - I assume because I'm a slow learner - I'm eating right, taking a brisk walk every day, and biking (15 miles round-trip) to work whenever life allows. I've lost over 20 pounds, built some muscles I forgot I had, and feel better than I've felt for a long time.

My body has responded well to this change in regimen with one exception. The muscles in my left side where I got stabbed long ago are often tense and ocassionally I feel an aching pain there. This has happened a few times before when I've been totally exhausted, but I'm not exhausted at all these days. I have a lot of energy.

Anyway, if anyone has experienced something like this and can a) explain what's going on and/or b) recommend something I can do to deal with the tension and pain, I'd sure appreciate it.

Best,

UmneyDurak

c) go see a doctor?

lbogart

Hi William53!

I'm a Physical Therapist who also rides a lot... perhaps I can offer some advice. Without knowing exactly where on your body you were stabbed, it makes this a little more challenging. However, there are a few things you mention that are helpful (tension, aching, usually with fatigue, but not necessarily so). It is frequently the case with big injuries--including surgical incisions--that the overlying scar tissue adheres to the underlying tissues. This prevents the skin and fat from moving freely over the deeper subcutaneous tissues. With attempted movement, the sensation will be one of pulling, tension, sometimes it might even feel like a pinching. The aching can be due to decreased blood flow to the area, again due to excessive soft-tissue tension. If you make a tight fist you can cause the skin over your knuckles to whiten; this blanching is due to occluded blood flow. In a larger area and or a muscle, blood flow occlusion can cause an aching or cramping sensation.
So what do you do about it?
Well, the usual disclaimer that this does not constitute medical advice as I have not evaluated you myself ;0)...
Try rolling the scar under your fingers--lift up the skin the scar is in and roll it between your fingers. Does it move smoothly or are there "puckers" in the scar? If there are puckers or irregularities, gently roll these areas between your fingers--it should feel a little like rolling a pea between your fingers. It might be a little painful, but shouldn't be really bad.
It'll take a few days or weeks to resolve the adhesions.
If you can provide further details about the location of the wound/scar, I can probably provide some ideas about how to stretch the underlying tissues.

Good Luck!
lyle

William53

Thanks for these responses.

The wound is in my left side - the blade missed my heart by less than a quarter inch so I'm lucky to be alive. Follow-up surgery patched the wound with a few stitches while a spleenectomy and other repairs were handled via an abdomen incision. That said I've wondered how internal healing has proceeded in and around the initial wound. I feel the tension/pain on the surface or close to it but maybe the scar tissue issues are linked to ribcage, or further in.

Until I started getting in shape the tension/pain in this area has been rare. Now it's more of a daily thing. My back and side muscles are getting stronger as I get in shape. Maybe this sort of ups the ante for the old scar tissue.

I'll try the routine you suggest. Thanks again.

lbogart

Hi William53,

I think that your intuition is correct when you state
"the tension/pain on the surface or close to it but maybe the scar tissue issues are linked to ribcage, or further in."
With an injury such as your in the ribcage, you can almost be guaranteed of deep scar adhesions.
Hope it all goes well (if you have difficulty getting the soft-tissues to mobilise, try to get seen by a physical therapist in your area).

Cheers!

William53

Thanks for your insights. I have a better sense of what's going on.

(BB)

I have a large scar on my leg that involves a skin graft which adhered to the muscle. I am familiar with all the sensations you describe. I have spoken with both Physical Therapists and Massage Therapists and all have basically said very similar things than the above PT. I would trying seeing if you can get in to see a PT who can give you a hands on demonstration of exactly how hard and where to massage. This was helpful to me, because on my own I would not had thought to work the area nearly as hard as I was shown.

Take Care

William53

Thanks for sharing your experience. I'm not finding that there's much for me to get a hold of for massage probably because my issues are more internal. I am going to visit with a local PT tho' to get some hands-on help. Thanks again.