How do you work with a client with older scar tissue? Here’s a video about my strategy:
I talk about some myofascial-inspired techniques for working with scar tissue, but mostly I discuss my general approach.
When I work with an area with extensive scarring, my primary concern is with the client as a whole. When someone has a visible/palpable area of past trauma, it can be easy to become hyper-focused on the region. While plenty of direct work may be warranted, this can leave the client feeling dissected, and it can feed into the narrative that this is their “bad leg” or “bad shoulder.” Certainly focus in, but always integrate the area back into the bigger picture.
Conversely, it can be tempting to avoid an area of past trauma. With a burn scar, or hip replacement, or amputation, we might feel like treating the area carefully. While I like this impulse (I think we should always approach the body with kindness and care), it can also unconsciously feed into a stigmatizing narrative where the site of past injury feels like “that thing” rather than “me.”