Download the study here: THE EFFECT OF OSTEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF CAESAREAN SCARS ON PELVIC MUSCLE STRENGTH
In general, scars have many effects on the function of the body. Think of a square piece of plastic wrap and bunch up one corner. Notice how the remaining part of the plastic wrap is pulled into the manipulated corner. This is tension and dysfunction in the wrap. Imagine your body with this problem. This thesis connects the c-section scar to many areas in the body and how to treat and release potential troubles a women may feel, such as low back pain, neck pain, headaches, painful gynecological areas, poor digestion and more.
Georgio Trimarchi is a graduate of the Canadian College of Osteopathy. He has been treating the release of scars for many years. As part of the requirements of the College for licensing, Georigo was honoured to be able to research, scientifically, scars and how it may affect muscle strength.
Abstract
The objective of this research was to determine how myofascial release on transverse Caesarean (caesarean) scars, in conjunction with the use of boney anchors for integration (lumbar and sacrum), alters the muscle strength of specific pelvic muscles.
In this study, which utilized a time-controlled within-subject design, the strength of five specific pelvic muscles were measured for each subject using the Lafayette instrument—a hand held muscle-strength gauge dynamometer. The control and treatment groups were made up of 27 women who were between twenty and forty-five years old and have had transverse caesarean scars for more than twelve months. The participants were volunteers recruited from the local community.
The assessments of muscle strength and treatment of scars were administered in Innergetics Thornhill Clinic site by a fitness consultant and an osteopath graduate student, respectively, over a sixteen-week period.
For all pelvic muscles measured (bilaterally except for the rectus abdominus), the adductor magnus, the gluteus medius, the iliopsoas, the obturator internus and the rectus abdominus, the mean strength measured in kilograms increased over the study period with significance of p < 0.00 for each muscle. Muscle strength was measured at weeks zero, four, and eight—subjects received testing only. At weeks eight and twelve subjects received the treatment procedure. The muscle testing was measured four weeks after each treatment. Muscle strength significantly increased when the average tone of the pre-treatment period was compared to both weeks twelve and sixteen of the post treatment period.
The desired results of this study were to show a deeper understanding of the effects of caesarean scars on pelvic muscles specifically and the female body in general, and how women that have caesarean sections might benefit from osteopathy and more specifically, myofascial release techniques.