Why treat scars?
Scars that haven’t healed properly can be painful or uncomfortable and make you feel self-conscious. Furthermore, scars can disrupt the body's energy flow and cause symptoms in other parts of the body. Both problems can be helped with acupuncture and moxibustion.
Which scars need to be treated?
Any scar that is tender to touch or pressure around its edges needs to be treated - and the age of the scar seems to play no role here: Sometimes scars from an injury years or decades ago hurt on pressure. Moreover, any scars that are red, bulging, lumpy, discolored or have sensations around them, like numbness, tingling, aching, or itching need treatment.
Superficial scars often don't cause problems, and any scar that has healed in such a way that the meridians found a good way "around" it is fine.
Why scars can be problematic beyond good looks
Every scar has the potential to send false signals to the body and to disrupt the energy flow of the meridians. This is called "interference" and is often cause for symptoms in other parts of the body:
Scars on or across the midline of the body (caesarian scars, epidural scars, head scars from brain surgery) often cause low energy levels, for example. Other scar problems I have seen improve greatly after treatment were: shoulder pain (laparoscopy scar), migraine headaches (appendix scar), breathing difficulty (an old lumpectomy scar on the breast), vision problems (a scar on the thigh, on an acupuncture point that is used to treat vision problems), and many more.
What you can expect
After acupuncture and moxibustion treatment, your scar will feel better and will begin to heal properly. A properly healed scar is white, smooth and level with the surrounding skin.
Pain, redness, lumpiness and unevenness will subside, and the tissue around the scar will become softer if it's been hard. Numbness, itching, tingling or achiness will be reduced or go away completely.
Symptoms caused by scars subside immediately after successful treatment. Once properly healed, scars usually don’t need to be treated again.
How I treat scars
When I treat a scar, I first gently feel around the edges and determine where it’s painful. Before treating the scar directly I may use acupuncture points on arms or legs to reduce the tenderness. Then I treat the scar area with moxa or a tiger warmer until it's nicely warm and pink and less tender. Often, the tissues around the scar soften immediately as well.
Sometimes only one treatment is needed to help a scar heal perfectly. Larger and more complicated scars may need several treatments.
How it works
According to Chinese medical theory, problems with scars have to do with impaired energy flow and circulation in the scar area. Acupuncture and moxibustion help break up this stagnation and re-establish proper energy flow and circulation. It’s as if the treatment reminds the body that at some point it abandoned a half-done job – healing the scar properly.
In order to get these benefits, reading the page alone doesn’t do it, though.
Book yourself in for a consultation.