denise

In Reply to: My incision is RED and HARD posted by Denise on February 13, 2004 at 18:46:09:

Denise,
To have a red, hard feeling incision is normal. You need to do some pretty strong massage in all directions, back and forth both along and perpendicular to the incision, and circularly. You should be feeling actual discomfort but not quite hard pain when you do it right. The more vigorous you can stand to do it the more you work that scar tissue loose.If you have a vibrating back massager, you can use that on there too, to help with breaking up the scar tissue and to help desensitize the area. The ache is pretty normal. If you use a heating pad for about 15 min before each massage session, it'll help soften up the tissues and help circulation, and it can make the massage less painful. Once you heat and massage, then do your tendon exercises etc, then put ice on it for about 15 min when you're all done the exercises, or whenever it is painful. As you work on the rehab, the muscles will come back, if you work at it.