Often medical providers can treat scars that cause pain and block movement to reduce the symptoms-especially when those scars interfere with joint movement. Adhesions occur when scar tissue attaches to the healthy tissues and organs around the wound. The same response can create adhesions inside the body. The overactive response creates raised red areas the length of the wound on the skin’s surface. At other times, the body overreacts and develops too many healing cells. Most of the time, the scar does its job and brings the edges of the skin, muscles, ligaments, tendons, and sheaths together without incident. We know the body needs time to heal after an injury or surgery, but we rarely think of healing as creating a scar-but that’s exactly what happens. You can see the scar develop on your skin, but did you stop to think about scar tissue that forms inside your body? Your body produces scar tissue inside and out. The trained eye of your medical provider will always see the marks of surgery or injury on your body.įortunately, scars caused by minor cuts, mild cases of acne, and other injuries which disrupt the skin fade over time to become almost invisible. This malfunction gives scars a negative reputation. When these repair cells work too hard and produce an abundance of collagen and fibers, they can form ridges, tighten skin, cause pain, or limit movement. Most of the time, these amazing healing cells do their jobs quietly and efficiently as a natural part of healing.

This process occurs whether you slice your finger with a paring knife or have joint replacement surgery. To bridge the gap, your body’s myofibroblasts make collagen and knit the edges of your soft tissues together, closing the wound. After a while, the scab falls off and a smooth, hairless patch appears underneath-a scar is formed.Ĭhances are you’ve witnessed the life-cycle of a scar on your skin without knowing what was really going on under the surface.Ĭuts and surgical wounds separate layers of skin, fat, muscles, tendons, ligaments, and other tissues.

A day or two later, you notice a brownish scab forms over the wound. After a few minutes, the bleeding slows and stops.

Scar tissue biography