C-section surgery generally causes adhesions to form. These adhesions can pull or spread into neighboring structures, causing c-section pain or dysfunction, including secondary infertility.
C-section Can Cause Adhesions
Cesarean section delivery (C-section) is the most common surgery among women in the US. Unfortunately, this invasive surgical procedure requires a great deal of healing to occur. Adhesions are one of the bodies automatic responses to traumas such as a fall, a surgery, an infection, or an inflammation. These adhesions are much like thick strands of nylon rope that bind to nearby structures and restrict and cover the traumatized area. Though they are designed to help the body heal, adhesions often cause ongoing pain or dysfunction, long after the surface scars have healed.
Adhesions Can Cause Pain
Because adhesions attach to nearby tissues and organs, they create a pull or restriction in the pelvis, which often results in pain. As the organs, tissues, and muscles attempt to move, a resulting pain occurs.
Adhesions that form after a C-section can bind together delicate reproductive structures, causing dysfunction and secondary infertility.
Adhesions Can Cause Secondary Infertility
As adhesions form throughout the pelvis, they can attach to the delicate organs of the female reproductive system. These strong, fibrous bands restrict the mobility and function of these organs, often causing secondary infertility.
Adhesions Can Cause Digestive Issues
Adhesions can also affect regular digestion by attaching to the outside or inside of the intestine wall. As adhesions bonds grow, they restrict the regular function of digestion, and can often lead to a partial bowel obstruction.
Treatment for Adhesions
Often times, pain killers or infertility drugs are offered as a treatment for those who suffer from post-surgical adhesions. Unfortunately, drugs merely mask the true problem of adhesions and offer no long-term solutions. The next step in treatment is to undergo surgery to cut or burn adhesion bonds throughout the pelvis. However, the trauma of an additional surgery causes additional adhesions to form, which can create an endless cycle of adhesions and surgery.
A manual physical therapy, called the Wurn Technique, has shown excellent results in decreasing pain and increasing function related to adhesions. This therapy feels much like a deep pelvic massage as therapists use their hands to break down the bonds of adhesions throughout the pelvis. This therapy has been endorsed by physicians from Harvard, Northwestern, and Columbia as an alternative treatment to surgery. Click here to learn more about this treatment for post C-section adhesions.
“What a much-needed, useful and safe way to deal with the common, yet mystifying problem of adhesions. You have perfected a technique to treat adhesions, with years of experience, scientific backup and case studies to prove it.”
-Dr. Leslie Mendoza Temple, Northwestern University Medical Director
