Whether your C-Section was planned or unplanned, sometimes knowing how to care for yourself and your scar afterwards can feel like a huge question mark. In this blog post, I am going to cover major priorities early post-C-Section recovery as well as what to work on in those first 6 weeks after having your baby. I also will go over what you can do for your scar if you are NOT in the early stages of recovery anymore and are noticing some issues with your scar recovery and healing. Even if you are months or years down the road, it’s NEVER too late to start doing some scar work.
Immediate C-Section Recovery
I think many women can feel a bit caught off guard after a C-Section, especially if it’s their first, and feel as though they were not prepared for the aftermath of the event. I want to make sure it is clear that a C-Section is a MAJOR abdominal surgery, and because of that, it really requires proper rehab to promote optimal healing and prevent issues arising later on down the road.
Immediately after a C-Section, your BIGGEST priority should be...wait for it…REST. Allowing your body to rest (as much as possible) after a C-Section is absolutely crucial to allowing those tissues that have just experienced trauma to start healing. I know that it can feel near impossible to truly rest after bringing a new child into this world that you now are responsible for, but bringing in extra helping hands or communicating with your support system how important it is for you to rest can be really great things to prioritize.
Priority number two is to focus on laying flat or standing straight up as soon as you can tolerate it. If this feels like a funny thing to prioritize, let me explain!
Your body is going to naturally want to draw in towards your incision in an effort to “protect” that area. However, if you go along with this instinct throughout the entire time that your scar is healing, the scar will actually heal in a shortened and overly tight manner. This can lead to all sorts of issues long-term. So instead, slowly and as you can tolerate a little more at a time, focus on laying flat on your back. If it feels too intense to have your legs fully extended, start with your knees bent and then progress from there. This flat position will allow your scar to heal in a non-shortened position, potentially even with a very slight stretch on it. When you are standing, try to avoid hunching over and leaning in towards your scar. Again, this is a natural, protective response, but unfortunately not super helpful for healing! Try your best to stand tall and avoid that shortened scar/incision position.
Positional Awareness in the First One to Two Weeks
After those initial days of recovery from a C-Section where you’ve been prioritizing your rest and focusing on some straightened positional adjustments you can do throughout your day, the next step would be to start progressing from simply encouraging a “straight” position to now encouraging an “extended” position. Let’s picture this in our heads for a minute…if a flexed position is you hunched over and drawing in towards your incision, and a straight position is simply straight up and down in standing or when laying flat on your bed, then an EXTENDED position is going slightly past straight up and down. Remember, any position should be gentle and gradual. You should not feel like an excessive amount of pulling to the incision.
Here are a few examples of what this could look like:
Place a mini pillow at the arch of your low back while laying flat on your back in bed. If this is too intense, try a small towel.
When standing straight up and down, allow your hips to travel forward (in front of where your shoulders are at) and allow that slight low back arch. Click HERE for a quick visual of this.
When sitting in a chair, place your hands on your hips and gently rock your hips forward and backward to your own level of comfort.
Again, this is the same idea as before, you just don’t want to encourage your scar to heal in a shortened pattern. You want it to heal so that later on, you don’t feel restricted by your scar when you’re simply standing up straight or reaching overhead. You want your scar to be movable and flexible! Prioritizing rest, neutral positioning and then eventually extension in that sequential pattern of progression will help you to get there!
When to Start Formal Rehab After a C-Section
After those first initial weeks of resting and intentional and gentle movements, we can start some more formal rehab IF you feel ready. If you do NOT feel ready, do a couple more weeks focusing on giving yourself the rest you need and continuing to be intentional about your positioning and movements. However, if you DO feel ready, scar work is actually a great place to start, but maybe not how you’re thinking.
The first thing you want to address when it comes to scar work, is actually your nerves. With any surgery, nerve damage can happen, and this can lead to things like burning, numbness, or tingling. In order to address this at the scar sight, we want to work on bringing those nerves back to normal by performing something referred to as nerve desensitization tactics.
To start off gently, simply breathe into your scar with your hands placed directly over the top of the scar. If placing your hands directly on the skin is too much, start with having your hands over clothing instead and then progress to direct skin contact as you can tolerate. This is something that can be done early postpartum, but if you are several months postpartum and your incision still gives you the ick, this is a GREAT place to start!
As long as your two week check up goes well and your scar is healing as expected, you can move onto some gentle touch! You can start by touching around the incision, but even directly ON the incision. Take a look at the video for what this might look like, what to be paying attention to while doing these tactile activities, and other ideas for gentle nerve desensitization tactics.
Direct and Indirect Scar Tissue Mobilization
After you have worked through some of these nerve desensitization activities, you can start to move onto gentle scar mobility AROUND the scar (indirect scar tissue mobilization). This can look like placing your index fingers on opposite sides of the scar and just off of the actual scar itself and gently pulling in opposite directions. You can do this same thing with your fingers on the outside of the incision but with your fingers at the top and bottom of the scar moving in the same direction, opposite directions and even circular motions.
When you have your 6 week check-up, your doctor will be looking at your scar and assessing the healing. If you are cleared at that point, then you can start to work directly ON the scar. You do want to make sure you are mindful about not being too aggressive too soon, as the tissue is still healing at this point! But with that in mind, you can start to work directly on the scar by using your finger pads to move in a “cross-friction”, linear and circular pattern.
Benefits of Scar Work Even in the Later Postpartum Time Frame
If you are WELL beyond the 6 week mark…months or even years postpartum, it is not too late to still have benefits from performing scar work! You may have noticed some issues starting to arise as your body progresses with healing, things like continued numbness or nerve issues, “shelving” of the scar or even just a feeling of general stiffness or immobility around the scar. All of these things can be improved with initiating scar work months and even years past the actual surgery.
You will want to start indirectly at first and then move to direct scar work after that, just like you would do in the earlier postpartum time frame. Working around the scar, or indirectly, first is a great way to work the “tangles” out surrounding the scar out first before attacking the actual scar itself. Sometimes, the issue lies in the tissues surrounding the scar more so than the actual scar itself, and in that case, only doing direct scar work isn’t going to benefit you as much as doing scar work around the scar AND on the actual scar.
Needing Additional Support With Your C-Section Recovery?
If you’re feeling lost in your postpartum recovery after having your C-Section, don’t worry, I’ve got you! My Mind Body Core Postpartum program was created to walk you step-by-step through that recovery so that you don’t have to walk it alone anymore! Mind Body Core has specific sections just for those who have experienced a C-Section and includes:
Education on what a c-section is
Weekly scar massage work
Scar healing guidance from day 1
How to use binders/bloomers for support
20+ videos for functional movement with a c-section
A 2 week pre-phase for c-section mom’s for best possible healing outcomes (in addition to the 12 week rehab protocol)
How to prevent scar “shelving”
Plus ALL the content for the full Postpartum Program
If this sounds like something you NEED, click the button below to check it out and start learning about what C-Section recovery really can look like with the correct guidance and education!
