For Science!
4/9/25. C-Section Investigation
Working on the lymphatic has been so very interesting. Some of the interesting feedback I received was reduced swelling from RA, to returning sense of smell, both after a single session..
Recently I am very excited to explore helping moms who have cesarean section scars. Many women experience child birth though a cesarean section, and for many different reasons. Some reasons being a life-saving necessity. In the U.S. roughly 32% of births are c-sections each year. Once you have one, its recommended that your next birth is also a c-section. This abdominal surgery unfortunately severs the lymphatic vessels, significantly reducing its function. Post healing, scar tissue continues to negatively impact the flow of the lymphatic system. One common complaint from moms is her “pouch” occurring near the section scar, frustrating many. The pouch consists of excess skin, fat, fluid, and scar tissue that exists above the scar. The c-section shelf, a.k.a. the mom pouch, can be a source of insecurity for some women. Although pregnancy is a beautiful time in a new mothers life, and all bodies are beautiful, some people long for their pre-baby bodies.
My theory is that shockwave will help reduce scar tissue on the incision area, allowing cellular regeneration and improved lymph flow. Shockwave therapy stimulates cell metabolism, activates the regenerative process, and stimulates vascular renewal. The pressure pulses generated by the device are what break apart scar tissue, expand blood vessels, and trigger the healing response. I want to incorporate shockwave technology with lymphatic drainage to see what benefits the mom could receive. MLD can speed up the lymph movement that no doubt is interrupted by surgery. I found a mom who was willing to participate in my case study.
Case Study Progress
For the study, I worked with a 48 year old woman who has had three c-sections, last one being about 8 years ago. Her obstetrician performed each c-section on top of the previous scar, which is typical. She is in good health and exercises somewhat regularly. She has struggled to flatten out the area around her c-section scar, and is a source of self-consciousness. She was an ideal candidate for this study because of her active lifestyle and the lack of results from her own attempts.
As we are both working mothers, we needed to be flexible when scheduling her treatments. Her treatments were completed on different times of day and sometimes needed to be postponed. This means we cannot know how much recovery time in between sessions was optimal.
Nevertheless, we have been able to do one shockwave treatment per week for 7 weeks. Within this timeframe, she received 4 MLD treatments. The MLD treatments were done early in the series. My client reported that her idiopathic leg pain that she experiences on her right, distal, medial leg had subsided. This pain began to return toward the end of our series. Its difficult to know if the MLD was helping her leg pain resolve, but its possible as there’s existing research showing MLD helps idiopathic pain.
After 7 shockwave treatments, the appearance of my client’s C-section shelf was dramatically reduced. We have one more session to do before our before and afters will be shown. This is exciting news for anyone who wants to treat their c section scar, mommy pouch, or for any scar that can be a source of insecurity.
Weekly shockwave seems to be an appropriate regimen for the treatment process. For a revision, however, I think it makes most sense for the client to receive MLD toward the end of the shockwave series. This way, the pathways are improves for the flow to be better facilitated.
