massage post surgery

[Chadly]

 Just wondering how long members on this board massaged for after surgery. I was told to massage for up to six months post op. I'm two months post op and would also like to know if it's still beneficial since I'm getting tired of doing it 3 times per day for 10mins a session.

[George Pope, M.D.]

Massage after surgery is optional; some surgeons don't recommend it at all.  If you're two months postop, you may not get much more benefit from massage.  You certainly don't need to massage 3 times a day at this point.  If you're tired of it, you should be able to quit. 

Dr. Pope, MD

[Chadly]

 Thanks for your reply. Also, wondering if massage could still help with reducing scar tissue lumps?

[George Pope, M.D.]

Not really.  Massage can help soft tissue swelling resolve more evenly or smoothly, but scar tissue itself won't go away with massage. It usually requires steroid injection or surgical removal.

Dr. Pope, MD

[Dr. Elliot Jacobs]

Agree with Dr. Pope.  The swelling and firmness that persists after surgery (sometimes, for a number of months) is a combination of fluid retention plus scar tissue.  Massage can help to mobilize the fluid but will do minimal with actual scar tissue.

Also, the typical healing after surgery involves the body making scar tissue and then a very slow self-resorption of that scar tissue -- but it never disappears completely.

I am not a fan of early massage because it can irritate some tissues and actually cause more swelling.  I do believe in massage beginning around 6-8 weeks after surgery.  After 6 months of massage, it will do nothing.

If scar tissue mars the surgical result at 5-6 months, I will oftentimes consider steroid injection to reduce the scar tissue.  I very rarely do surgery to remove scar tissue because the natural result would often be more scar tissue.  You are then caught in a viscious cycle.  The only time I may revise for "scar tissue" is if I feel that there was residual tissue left in place to begin with.

Dr Jacobs

[ahnuld]

Massaging soon after surgery honestly ruined any hope I had of achieving the result that I wanted after it resulted in me getting a haematoma. I would avoid it like the plague - At least so soon after surgery.