Possible internal scar tissue

Digestive health
1

Hello,

I am 39 and at 17 tore some cartilage in my right hip and a year later pulled something in my stomach doing stupid number of sit ups over a bed. I had a marked line, looked seperated one part of stomach muscle to the other. I continued  a few days later and still feeling sore and lower stomach felt not functioning.

The hip injury i was told about at 30 years age and i think this bad gait movement made my stomach heal badly. I could not do sports after. If I tried push ups, sit ups, any lifting even small I would feel stomach pulled into chest and have bruising under arm pits.

I was a good athlete before this. 

Many years later I was scanned for all my organs and had many ultrasounds and stomach tubes to test gas because I was being sick also after this.I later got acid reflux and felt my muscles were not pushing my foods down. 

I got rid of this through 6 years of acid tablets.

My stomach healed enough to do basic lifting without stiffness, bloating and some breathlessness. 

I also went to a hot spring which helped but just recently I made my hip worse from a fall and have a worse twist. There are no cartilage injections so i cant stop this twist and maybe thats made my stomach worse. I have bloating and some aches back.

I cant understand why i feel like the muscles moved into chest, the muscles are hard around ribs and i cant have good contraction of stomach.

I know there are at least 2 things mentioned here, but I would appreciate if anyone has any ideas?

I heard scar tissue can pull organs and ligaments together and it sounded similar to what I have had. However I heard only an operation can detect them and this also can cause scar tissue to regrow. 

Are there any known things to tell if its scar tissue internal or something else?

The only thing to alleviate it a bit is hot spring water, which isnt easy to get to.

I also heard adhesions are possible. I dont feel anything close to muscles. just feels like hard muscle, and its pulled up to chest, and upwards on rib cage. I dont know why the muscle of stomach isnt enough and i thought originally i have damaged the stomach muscle because lower stomach feels soft and without muscle. The ligaments around hip joint are hard. just feels like something that used to be their has gone.

sorry if the message a bit disjointed but its also confusing for me.

2

A hot shower or bath would also help in the absence of hot spring water  Do you live in a hot climate because this also helps muscle and joint pains?

3

Hi Pippa,

Sorry I wasnt on here a long time. Yes, its warmer climate, Vietnam, which as you says helps a lot as Turkey befoe was -30 and although the hot spring seemed to meld my stomach so at least it functioned even if i couldnt use it in building muscle. 

Before it just felt like it wasnt strong to lift even shopping bags. Only reading about scar tissue internal makes me think its being pulled about internally. 

It doesnt sound like operations are the way to go as it can just come back through bleeding. it feels like once you make scar tissue, any sporting career is over if in wrong place i mean.

Hot baths used to help but any stress externally used to just make me cramp up again.

I was told by a doctor stomach muscles are not the problem as it always heals. so all i can think is ive some adhesions or scar tissue stopping the muscles from fitting together when movement.

4

James, you may very well have scar tissue.  Good news.  If it is, it can be helped.  Dealing with it is painful, takes some time and can be somewhat expensive if your insurance co-pays are a lot.  A Physical Therapists is the dr.

who can actually DO something productive for it.  I have had it done twice.  Once was quite extensive, and painful. But it helped.  No, it worked,  for the area she worked on.  Unfortunately, I have much more.  I scar easily, every time I have surgery or an injury such as you described.  They even removed my stomach 4 years ago after an operation years ago to remove scar tissue.  My stomach had grown to 3 organs.  They took half of the liver, separated the spleen and I think, gallbladder, not sure of the 3rd organ.  I have it wrapped around my spinal cord now and of course, they can't operate on that.  I won't have any more surgeries though unless it is immediate life and death.   All that said to encourage you to not only find out if that's the problem but to follow up on it.  It only grows.  It has a life and will of it's own.  On, James you can do stretches.  That is very very helpful. 

I see a DO.  Besides PT he has recommended stretching, heat, a lot of water and I think that was all.  I have come to respect him because he takes a healthy and natural approach to wellness instead of surgery even though he operates on backs 3 days a week.  If he ever recommends surgery I know it would be necessary.   May God be with you James.  Scar tissue issues sound simple and just uncomfortable to most people, but it is indeed, both serious and painful.   I certainly wish you the best dealing with yours.

5

Maybe you need another scan to see if scar tissue is present. Apparently, adhesions are becoming more common these days and are causing people a lot of problems.

It’s good that a warm climate helps a bit in the meantime.  In Great Britain, spring is on its way and the weather is drier which helps the neuralgia a lot.

6

I remember just that, originally i had a bigger line originally where my six pack was, and that it felt disconnected from the lower stomach muscle. I had bruising around my arm pits if i lifted anything not too heavy like shopping. The muscles seemed to then harden around my ribs. This was so hard to explain to anyone and not having the feeling of strength in my stomach. any sit ups or movement involving them led to breathlessness. 

The man who gave me a scan originally said nothing wrong with the muscles but perhaps scar tissue but i didnt know what kind of scan would show scar tissue, adhesions?

Its been frustrating like its been in my head. hot hamams, and eating the right food helped but ive never been able to do anything like upper body building again.

7

I researched abdominal adhesions and I found out that scans such as X Rays and CTs don’t detect them.  Most of them are discovered by doing abdominal surgery.

8

I think thats what the man was hinting at when he was doing an ultrasound on my stomach, that it maybe scar tissue but nothing can show. 

Then with surgery removing that way, causes blood, which can then make more scar tissue.

It maybe that there are physical therapists, specific, who can feel for them and remove with certain massage tools. 

I have heard of cold laser therapy, but cant see much science results in it and it wasnt cheap by any means. 

9

Ask your doctor if he knows of any adhesion specialists.