What is Scar Tissue

What is Scar Tissue?

For very many years we have understood that when tissues get damaged they bleed and this forms scar tissue which can disrupt function. As Soft Tissue Therapist we believe we break this scar tissue down to restore good function, and without this it will remain there forever.

But I live and learn! In recent years I have done many cadaver studies and to my surprise and confusion I have never seen any lumps or anything else in the muscles (or fascia) that could be described as 'scar tissue'.

If our belief about scar tissue was correct why can't I find it anywhere on a cadaver? So what are these hard lumps we feel in 'living' soft tissue? I don't know but my latest theory is that it could be a very localised neural hypertonicity.

We may think we get a good result by breaking down scar tissue but maybe the result comes from the neuromuscular effect we are having instead.

What Do You Think?