Abdominal adhesion, symptoms, and therapy or surgery?

@kremer1 Hello, I am sorry to hear you are having so much discomfort, but the surgeon is right, over half of gall b,adder surgery patients experience it. But it also occurs after many other surgical procedures as well.

Over the past 50 years, I have had many surgical procedures, and I learned from the very firstone that my body forms excessive scar tissue every after every incision or any wound requiring stitches.

After the first surgery I complained to the surgeon's nurse, and she looked at it and said "Oh, you form keloids and adhesions." She demonstrated scar massage, and directed me to do it twice a day until I was satisfied with the look and feel of the scar, then daily for another month.
This was on the side of my breast, and the adhesion was attached to my rib - believe me, that massage HURT at first. But the adhesion released, the scar smoothed out, and all is well. After every surgery since, I have done scar massage. After one hip replacement, I was quite ill and didn't do it for a few months - pretty soon the scar was adhered to the muscle and it took a a year to break it up.

You can search for scar massage techniques on the internet. Try to find one demonstrated by an occupational therapist. My friend is an OT who specializes in scar therapy for breast cancer survivors.

Or if you want help getting started, ask your doc for a referral to an OT for a few sessions.

Sue

Sue,
Thank you for your message. I had been looking on-line and saw exactly what you have indicated. I've been doing some self massage in the area with the discomfort, upper right abdominal quadrant right below the ribcage where the appendix is and where one gallbladder incision is. I also massage the entire upper abdominal area, it is where I have cramping and sort of distension. I think it helps things move through the system? But I also have what I can describe as a ligament or maybe muscle strain type pain on that same right side area more on my side. I try to message that too, but it isn't very effective. I work with PT, and am trying to get something to help relax that somehow.
Thanks for you input.

I’ve had kidney surgery, laparoscopic, so I have a long “bikini” scar, similar to the kind you’d get with a c-section and smaller scars from the ports, and I have similar symptoms.

In my experience, adhesions and pain from scar tissue, it’s not really something a doctor would be knowledgeable about—my PCP is knowledgeable but she’s a DO and in integrative medicine. Before looking into surgery, I’d consult a pelvic PT (it’s a subspecialty, and contrary to the name, they also often treat abdominal symptoms) or a regular PT if you can find someone with experience in this area. Do you think that might be an option?

I thought there was nothing I could do for the pain and sensitivity I was experiencing, until I saw a pelvic PT for a different reason and she asked about my scars and if they were painful. She taught me scar mobilization and desensitization techniques. The scar mobilization involves different massage techniques to basically gently break down or improve mobility of the scar tissue. And the desensitization is because of the sensitive nerves around the scars.

I’m sure you could also search online for examples of abdominal scar mobilization online or on YouTube as well.

I was having abdominal pain
which became increasingly worse I was admitted to the hospital and drs discovered that I had a small bowel obstruction caused by adhesions from three abdominal c sections and a
splenectomy. They tried to clear it, feeling more surgery would cause more adhesions. Ultimately they had to perform a small bowel resection
Sending you very best wishes that your issues are taken care of and you get relief

I had a complete hystectomy and developed scar tissue pain. I have had great results by working with a skilled massage therapist who understands scar tissue.

Thank you for your comment. I've not been able to get a Dr to confirm or verify that it is adhesion, only that it might be and I guess they would need to do exploratory laparoscopic to find out which itself could cause more.
I'll check out massage therapy first.

No doctor will ever confirm scar tissue- too much liability!

My doctors seem to brush my concerns off. I’ve had 6 abdominal surgeries. My abdomen is a mess. 🙁

My husband has struggled with post-surgical abdominal adhesions for years. He had a bowel resection caused by adhesions in 2008. They were not causing an obstruction, just significant pain. In 2020, he began experiencing continuous pain on his lower left side. We finally convinced a surgeon to perform laparoscopic surgery in 2021. The surgeon found significant adhesions which were removed on husband's left side towards middle. The surgeon didn't want to touch the right side which was complicated by a hernia and the presence of mesh from another hernia operation.
Husband got some relief for several months. But now the pain is almost constant. He takes Tramadol up to 4 times daily. He has tried fascia massage but this required driving 7 hours round-trip in one day, which tended to undue the benefits. He has lost weight (intentionally) on advice of the massage therapist. Nothing really helps. He describes the pain as someone taking a jackhammer to his side. He has tried medical marijuana, too.
Are there any clinical trials for nonsurgical treatment? Anything else out there?

@mrsroundrevul
I've been trying to find out more about nonsurgical, but there isn't much online. It sounds like adhesions are fairly common from abdominal surgery. I'm not sure that what I am experiencing is adhesions. I saw a gastroenterologist who thinks my symptoms are due to microscopic colitis. I am scheduled for a colonoscopy to verify that, but the imaging is booked out to mid Aug. In the meantime I have to deal with it the best I can. But I still think that some of what I'm experiencing is due to adhesion. There is self massage, and I try that with a bit of relief.
Is your only option for massage that far of a drive? Does an pain med help? Does the medical marijuana help?