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Scar release · South Berkeley
A scar is only the tip of the iceberg.
What you can see on the surface is the smallest part of it. Underneath, the fascia can be stuck, pulling on things a long way from where you were cut. I work on scars from surgery, injury, and burns, whether they happened last month or in 1984, to get you moving more freely and feeling less tethered.
- Trained in
- Dolphin microcurrent scar release and MSTR
- Scar age
- Weeks old to decades old
- Main goal
- Movement and comfort, not erasure
- First step
- A free phone call with me
The honest version
What I am actually trying to change.
Scars may look better after this work. Sometimes they look considerably better. But that is not the thing I am aiming at, and I would not want you to book on that promise.
What I am aiming at is function. When tissue is cut, the body lays down repair material fast, and that material does not always end up pliable. It can bind layers together that are meant to glide over one another. You feel that as tightness, pulling, numbness, a patch that will not move, or an ache that seems to have nothing to do with the scar at all.
So the first thing I ask is not what your scar looks like. It is how it is affecting your life.
We care about how scars look. I always just think of them as the tip of the iceberg.
Find yourself here
Scars I work with.
If you have a scar and it is fully closed, it is very likely workable. These are simply the ones I see most.
Abdominal scars
C-section, hysterectomy, tummy tuck, and the fleur-de-lis pattern that follows major weight loss. Horizontal abdominal scars are among the most consequential scars a body can carry.
Chest and breast
Mastectomy and reconstruction, breast lift and augmentation, and open heart surgery. Vertical, horizontal, or both, often several at once.
Burn scars
Burns contract the tissue as they heal, which is exactly the kind of restriction this work is suited to. Irregularly shaped scars get worked from the outer edges in toward the centre.
Injury scars
The skateboarding accident, the kitchen accident, the surgery you had when you were nineteen. Age is not a barrier. I have worked on scars older than some of my clients.
Facial and head scars
Surgical and injury scars on the face, jaw, and scalp, worked with the same very light attention I bring to any facial work.
Joint replacement
Knee, hip, and shoulder incisions, where a stuck scar can quietly limit the range of motion you worked so hard in physical therapy to get back.
Why placement matters
Some scars carry more weight than others.
In Dolphin scar release training there is a set of scars referred to as the six dragons: the ones that tend to affect the body most. Four of them come up in my practice constantly.
- Caesarean and tummy tuck scars. A single hip-to-hip incision can cross five different yin meridian pathways.
- Mastectomy scars. Often combined with lymph node removal and radiation, which changes what the whole quadrant can do.
- Open heart surgery. Vertical, central, and sitting over structures that do not enjoy being restricted.
- Head scars. Small on the surface, disproportionately influential underneath.
As a general rule, horizontal scars affect us more than vertical ones. They cover more ground, and we bend horizontally all day long. It is one reason a low abdominal scar can show up as a complaint in your back, your hip, or your breathing.
What a session involves
How I work on a scar.
Nothing here is aggressive. If you are bracing for someone to dig into your scar tissue, that is not what this is.
- We talk first
What is this scar costing you?
Movement, sensation, comfort, confidence, sleep, or something you have stopped doing without quite noticing you stopped. I want the real answer, not the tidy one.
- I assess
What is stuck and in which direction
I look at how the tissue moves, where it refuses to, and what is happening in the areas around it rather than only at the line itself.
- Dolphin
Microcurrent scar release
My preferred tool for this work by a distance. It is applied along and around the scar, and it does well on the contracted, bound-down tissue that hand technique alone can struggle with.
- Hands
MSTR and fascial work
McLoughlin Scar Tissue Release is a hand technique I trained in separately. I use it where it suits the scar, alongside the lymphatic work that is my main discipline.
- Between visits
Tape, when it helps
For newer scars, kinesiology taping supports the tissue between sessions. It works on more than skin: fascia, lymphatics, and the joint underneath all benefit.
It is not like something just begins and ends somewhere. We approach it with a sense of curiosity, and see how your body responds.
Timing
When a scar is ready.
This is the question I am asked most, and there is a clear answer. A scar is ready for direct work once it is fully closed: steri-strips off, any scabs fallen away on their own, skin intact, and your surgeon happy with how it is healing.
Before that point I will not touch it, and neither should anyone else. You cannot rush this part. I know that from the inside, having recently had a knee replacement that reopened a scar I have carried since 1984.
That does not mean there is nothing to do. While my own scar was closing, I was already working the parasympathetic points at the wrist and the trauma point on the little finger. Getting your nervous system out of fight-or-flight helps everything that comes next, and it can start immediately.
If your surgery is still ahead of you, call before it. Working a scar before it is cut into again is worth doing, and planning the timing in advance is far easier than working it out while you are sore and tired.
Worth saying plainly
What I will not promise you.
I cannot make your scar go away
Nobody can, and I would never say otherwise. If someone promises you erasure, be careful with them. What I can work toward is tissue that moves better and bothers you less.
I cannot tell you how many sessions
Not before I have felt it. Some scars change quickly, some are slow, and some surprise us both. We try it, we look at what happened, and we decide together from there.
I do not treat open or unhealed tissue
Anything oozing, weeping, scabbed, or not yet closed belongs with your surgeon or a wound care specialist, not with me.
I am not your whole care team
If a scar is genuinely limiting you, a physical therapist or your surgeon may need to be part of this. I will say so, and I will help you find them.
Something people rarely say out loud
The emotional part is real.
For some people a scar is a story they are glad to carry. For others it is something they relive every single time they catch sight of it in the mirror, or get dressed, or are touched there.
Neither reaction is the correct one, and I have no interest in telling you how to feel about your own body. But I do ask, because it changes how I work and how much time we spend. Emotion caught in a scar is not a metaphor I use loosely. People cry on my table sometimes. It is allowed, it is common, and nothing about it makes the appointment awkward.
And plenty of people simply have no idea that scar work exists at all. Once the emergency has passed, the accident stops being on your radar, and it never occurs to you that the thing bothering you now might be connected to it.
People aren't thinking about how something in one place could be affecting somewhere else entirely. Fascia, nerves, energy pathways: the body is connected like that.
Before you call
Questions I get asked.
Will scar work make my scar disappear?
No. It may soften, flatten, or fade, and sometimes the visual change is striking, but I cannot make a scar go away and I will not tell you I can. The reliable benefit is functional: tissue that glides better, pulls less, and stops restricting the movement around it.
How old is too old for a scar to be worked on?
There is no upper limit. Decades-old scars respond, and I look at them routinely. In fact, when someone comes to me with pain or restriction that is not responding to anything, old untreated scars are one of the first places I look.
How soon after surgery can you work on my scar?
Once it is fully closed: steri-strips off, scabs fallen away naturally, skin intact, and your surgeon satisfied with the healing. That is usually a few weeks, but it depends entirely on the procedure and on you. Before that point there is still useful work to do on swelling and on calming your nervous system.
Does it hurt?
It should not. This is not deep, forceful tissue work. Dolphin microcurrent is applied lightly, and the hand technique is gentle. If anything is uncomfortable, you tell me and I adjust. That is not a formality.
What is Dolphin microcurrent scar release?
A handheld microcurrent device applied along and around scar tissue. I trained in it online and then in person in Los Angeles for pain applications. Having also trained in the hand technique, I prefer the Dolphin for most scar work by a clear margin.
Can you work on burn scars?
Yes, and they often respond well. Burns contract the tissue as they heal, and contracture is exactly the kind of restriction this addresses. Irregularly shaped scars are worked from the outer edges inward toward the centre rather than along a line.
Do I need my doctor's approval?
Not to have the phone call. For some situations, particularly anything cancer-related or a recent complex surgery, I will want to know what your surgeon has told you before we begin, and I will tell you on the call if that applies to you.
Can you work on a scar that has not been cut yet?
Yes, and it is worth doing. If you have an old scar that is about to be cut into again, working it beforehand is sensible preparation. Call before your surgery date if you can.
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The next step
Tell me about your scar.
Fifteen free minutes on the phone with me. Describe what it is doing to you and I will tell you honestly whether this work suits your situation, whether the timing is right, and what I would expect. If the answer is not yet, or not with me, I will say that too.