Specialised physiotherapy and breast cancer/surgery
I was fortunate enough to be educated in the art of treating the phenomenal connective tissue system by a world-renown specialist in the field of fascia. It is what I base most of my manual therapy techniques on. With this particular interest came the gift of treating scar tissue, so my journey began with many a breast cancer sufferer and breast surgery patients.
Surgical and/or chemotherapy approaches may contribute to body tissue changes that could lead to impaired function in activities of daily living.
When a surgeon cuts into healthy tissue, it heals with scar tissue. Scars hold together an area where a tissue disturbance has occurred and knit together in a more fibrous pattern than the original tissue. Scars, therefore, affect the original skin flexibility. Skin does not glide as easily as it once did when a restriction has been put in its path. These changes may not be evident in the early stages of healing because tissue fibrosis and thickening in connective tissue generally take longer to develop.
Mastectomies and reconstructive tissue do not need to leave you with pain or restriction; they can be helped by hands that know-how.
Some surgical patients fare perfectly well and experience very little discomfort post-surgery, perhaps due to their tissue’s elastic nature, but some suffer greatly from impairment and discomfort.
These impairments may present as :
- Movement restrictions
- Oedema/swelling
- Tightness of scars
- Aches and pains specifically in the arm
- Weakness and heaviness of limbs
- Clothing feeling tight
- Altered skin sensation
- Burning or stabbing sensations
In my experience women who have had mastectomies or/and reconstructions don’t always complain because they don’t know that what they experience is abnormal.
My poem, my experience
Many different tales, for many different women
yet all the same story and all the same villain
She is charismatic and very brave,
She walks tall; no demons hold her slave
Or is she small and fragile to break
She seems so scared, just ready to escape
A manicured garden filled with the eye’s pleasures
Then suddenly, a scar and her world left in tethers.
Suffocated by the tightness of her own skin
A leotard pulled over her chest, leaving her thin
Swelling, oedema, lymph that doesn’t drain
Isn’t it enough? What else will remain?
Medicines, surgery, 100 procedures
Gifts and sympathy cards, none of them sought
But will she ever be ready or really forewarned
That soon parts of her body will gone and mourned
Some have learnt, but for some, the lesson waits
Their new body is perfect in all sizes and shapes
Mrs Welma Venter reports: “I didn’t realise how stiff and restricted I was until I gained my new freedom of movement which enabled me to fully enjoy my pilates and other daily activities to the fullest.”
Patients have explained that they often only come to treatment when they are desperate because they fear the treatment itself and consequential treatment pain; they want to avoid sympathy, even judgment. They feel insecure at the delicacy of the damage to their bodies.
Know that you don’t have to hide, and you don’t have to suffer. My approach is empathetic but motivated and passionate towards the realignment of tissue. I believe that repatterning requires the ability to dance with tissue in order for the body to regain its full abilities post-surgery. Your physiotherapist will need postgraduate training in connective tissue modulation to apply these techniques. It is not normal scar tissue break – down. It is not an aggressive approach and does not elicit any pain.
The women I have had the privilege of treating are the strongest, most charismatic people I have ever come across. These women lead with strength and determination and ooze the will to live life to the fullest.
War leaves its mark, but these scars are earned through experience and should be carried with pride. Your body is a temple that deserves the best in life and movement. Freedom from restriction is a necessity! New perfection is attainable. Your body deserves it.
