After bunion surgery, you might be left with a scar. But is this surgical scar bothering you? Are you trying to find ways to get rid of it? Don’t worry! Your solution is right here.
So, how to break up scar tissue after bunion surgery?
A bunion can be painful, and when it starts to interfere with your day-to-day activities, you need to get it operated on. After surgery, you can try to break up the scar tissue by using oils and moisturizers, physical therapy, laser therapy, or corticosteroid injections.
Keep reading this article to know the details of the remedies.
Table of Content
How to Break Up Scar Tissue After Bunion Surgery
Scar tissue forms after surgery when your body is in the healing process. When you get a cut on your skin like a wound, or an incision, the normal tissue breaks off. Your body forms new tissue in its place known as scar tissue. This process often happens after a surgery, injury, or infection.
Often people need to get rid of that scar tissue. So, what are the ways to break scar tissue after bunion surgery? For that, various techniques can work. You can do that through therapies, such as physical therapy, cold therapy or cryotherapy, laser therapy, and home remedies.
Sometimes, joint stiffness and pain occur after bunion surgery, these therapies can also help get rid of pain and stiffness. Bunion surgery scar healing may take some time. Therefore, you need to be patient with the whole healing process.
If you have intense joint pain, you can also try other therapies, such as vibrations, using silicone gel, and taping. Bunion surgery can result in complications. You can not move your big toe after bunion surgery. It mostly happens because of bunion recurrence.
In this article, we will tell you the ways to break down scar tissue after bunion surgery and tips for bunion scar removal. So, come with us and consider following the remedies mentioned below.
Oils and Moisturizers:
If your scar tissue does not interfere with your daily life activities, you can try removing it at home on your own. To remove scar tissue, it needs to get soft first. Therefore, you can apply oil or a moisturizer once or twice daily to loosen tight scar tissue.
Massaging the foot after bunion surgery with oil or a moisturizer is a good idea. Massage in the direction of the tissue so that the scar tissue becomes more flexible. In this way, the tissue sensitivity is decreased.
You can also try applying silicone patches over the scar tissue at home. These patches promote healing. You can also try tapping, or wrapping the injury.
Other activities can be done for the removal of scar tissue. But, you can not do that in the home on your own. Instead, you need someone expert for it.
Physical Therapy:
Scar tissue can sometimes disrupt your movement because it is hard, and it may not allow you to move your arm or foot freely. If that happens with you too, you should consult with a physical therapist so they can guide you about the exercises you need to do.
Make sure you do them as they direct you to do, and follow their advice. Sometimes, they also prescribe some oils or emollients to apply over it along with physical therapy. Slowly and gradually, physical therapy will show its effects.
Therefore, you should be patient with it. Do not rush the whole process. It will take some time for your scar tissue to soften and break so that your movement may get back to its normal range. Your physical therapist can guide you on how long it will take for the whole process to normalize.
Physical therapy will also play a role in reducing stiffness and pain around the joint. Moreover, it will help in preventing future joint injuries. Therefore keep doing physical therapy as far as your healthcare providers allow it.
You should ask your physical therapist for how long you can keep doing them. Often they allow it for a lifetime, and you should make a habit of doing that. Physical therapy has great benefits for your joints and muscles. Therefore incorporate it into your daily routine.
Laser Therapy:
Laser therapy is a non-invasive method. In this procedure, your healthcare provider provides a beam of laser. This laser beam enters your body and promotes the growth of healthy collagen.
However, laser therapy is not a very effective one. It may not help in the fast-breaking of scar tissue. But it can help in improving mobility and pain due to scar tissue.
When scar tissue forms, your skin stretches and often causes itching that becomes bothersome for some people. Laser therapy can help get rid of itching due to scar tissue formation.
However, you need to be a lot of patient with laser therapy. Your doctor may suggest you keep continuing other exercises and emollients application.
Corticosteroid Injections:
Sometimes the person may have a lot of pain and swelling at the joint due to scar tissue formation. To get rid of it, your healthcare providers may administer a steroid injection. It has potent anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving effects.
However, a disadvantage of a corticosteroid injection is that it can cause injury at the injection site. It can worsen the pre-existing condition.
If you are worried or nervous about the steroid injection at the joint site, do not worry. Your healthcare providers often administer local anesthesia at the site. It is a quite common practice in the doctor’s clinic.
Steroid injections have variable results. In some people, it may take some shots to get rid of pain and inflammation. While in some, it may take a lot of time, such as years for the pain and inflammation to go away completely.
Repeated steroid injections can also increase the chances of tissue injury. Your healthcare providers can decide whether you need to get a corticosteroid injection or not.
Your healthcare provider may prescribe a corticosteroid injection if you are concerned about how to reduce swelling after bunion surgery.
So, now can you make scar tissue go away? I hope you can!
How Long Does It Take To Break Down Scar Tissue
A common question that the patients often ask the healthcare provider is the duration of scar tissue to break down. We will answer this question for you.
Let us first tell you that everyone is different and so are their bodies. Everyone has a different healing process. Healing itself depends upon various things, such as your diet intake, protein intake, activity level, health status, medication intake, and various other factors.
There is no such time that one can predict that in a certain time the scar tissue will break. The breaking of scar tissue also depends on the technique you use to break it. However, it may take some days to months for that to happen. In the whole process, you have to be patient.
How Long Does Scar Tissue Take To Soften
When you decide to break the scar tissue, it must soften. And for that, you will have a question how long will it take for the scar tissue to soften. We will tell you that.
As healing is variable from person to person, the formation and softening of scar tissue are also variable. It is not the same for all people.
Therefore one can not tell about it exactly. In some, it may happen early, and in some it may take time, depending upon various factors. Generally, it takes around four months for the scar tissue to soften and lose the swelling and redness it has.
How Long Is Your Foot Swollen After Bunion Surgery
If you are getting operated on for bunion surgery, you must have a thought in mind. After how long the swelling of the foot will get better? When will it resolve completely?
After bunion surgery, it may take six weeks for the initial swelling to resolve. But for it to get over completely, it may take around six months to a whole one year. In this period, you may also have a complaint of pain in the foot.
You may also be advised to wear a special cast or a foot that will help keep your foot in the right shape that you will have to wear for around three to six weeks. After that, you may be allowed to remain without it.
There is no such strict timeline for the swelling to resolve. The time may vary from person to person, depending on various factors.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How can I remove scar tissue at home?
To remove the scar tissue, you should apply emollients, oils, and moisturizers so that it gets soft and removed with ease.
Where does scar tissue form?
A scar tissue is formed at the site of injury often. It can occur in any part of the body.
For what reasons is scar tissue formed?
A scar tissue is formed due to injury, infection, or surgery. It forms as a replacement of the old tissue.
Can scar tissue formation restrict movement of the arm?
Yes! Scar tissue formation can cause a restriction in the movement of the arm. To get back the movement, you need to break the scar tissue.
So the Point is…
Here, we have concluded the ways how to break up scar tissue after bunion surgery.
However, follow the advice of your healthcare providers. They can make a wise decision depending on your condition. If there is severe pain and inflammation with the scar tissue, you must consult with a healthcare provider.
