What is scar therapy?
Scar therapy is gentle, hands-on work with scar tissue and the layers of your body underneath it. A scar is not only what you can see on the surface. Underneath, the tissue has healed by knitting itself back together, and it doesn't always knit tidily. Layers that are meant to glide over one another can stick, and that sticking is what causes the pulling, the tightness and the numbness that so many women live with for years and are told is simply how it is now.
The work itself is slow. I use light to medium pressure around and on the scar to help those layers move again, and I go at whatever pace your body will allow. But scars hold more than tissue. They hold the memory of what happened, and how you felt about it, and the work reaches that too.
When our mind may have healed from our physical experience, has our body?
Where scar therapy comes from
The method I use is Restore Scar Therapy, developed by Emma Holly at Restore Therapy. Emma has spent around thirty years working with scar tissue, first in her own clinic on Harley Street and now teaching the practitioners who do this work across the UK, in the NHS and in private practice.
I trained with Restore Therapy over two days in person, learning specific scar massage techniques, cupping and negative pressure, stretching, kinesiology taping, and how to teach you the self-care you'll do at home between sessions. I mention all of this because I think you should know who taught the person putting their hands on you, and where the work comes from. It has real roots and real training behind it.
Who is it for?
Scar therapy can be used with almost any kind of scar. It might be right for you if:
- You have a caesarean scar that feels numb, tight or somehow not yours
- You have a surgical scar from a laparoscopy, hysterectomy, mastectomy, appendix or gallbladder operation
- You're living with a scar from an accident, an injury or a burn
- You have keloid or hypertrophic scarring
- Your scar pulls, itches, or feels like it's stuck to what's underneath
- Something changed after your surgery in your menstrual health, your bowel or your bladder
- You've had lower back or hip pain ever since an operation
- You've been told nothing more can be done about an old scar
It isn't only for women in physical discomfort. A lot of the women I see come because they want to make peace with their scar. To stop feeling like it happened to them, and start to feel like it's part of their story.
What happens in a session?
We start by talking. I want to understand your scar's history, how it came about, how it feels now, whether it causes you any pain or restriction, how you're feeling about it emotionally, and what you're hoping for. There's no rush.
Then the massage. I work around and on the scar with light to medium pressure, and I use breathwork alongside it. Depending on what your body is asking for I might also bring in womb massage techniques or reiki. You'll always be told what I'm doing and why, and you're in control the whole way through. If you want me to stop, we stop.
Afterwards we'll go through the self-care you can do at home. That part matters more than people expect. A few minutes most days between sessions does far more than anything I can do in ninety minutes on my own.
How many sessions, and is it ever too late?
It's never too late. Scar tissue can be worked with years after the surgery or the injury, and many of the women who come to me have been carrying their scar for a long time. You do get better results between eight weeks and eighteen months after surgery, while the tissue is still settling, but that window is where the work is easiest, not where it stops being possible.
How many sessions you'll need, I honestly can't tell you before I've met you. It depends on your scar, and on how regularly you do the self-care at home. What I can say is that most women feel something shift in the first one.
A note from me
I came to this work through my own body. After two caesareans I knew what it was to look at a scar and feel nothing much about it on the surface, while something underneath was still tight and still unfinished. Scar massage is what helped me, and it's why I trained.
If you'd like to talk it through first, I offer a free 30-minute discovery call. You can read more about the scar massage sessions I offer in Leeds, or about caesarean scar massage if that's the scar you're carrying.
Beaming love your way,
Kay x
Frequently Asked Questions
They're two names for the same work. Scar massage is what most people call it, and it's what I call it day to day. Scar therapy is the term used by the training bodies, because the work covers more than massage alone: stretching, cupping, taping and the self-care you take home with you.
Sometimes, yes. Scars often soften, flatten and fade a little as the tissue underneath becomes more mobile. But I'd never promise you a particular look, and appearance isn't really what the work is for. Most of the women I see come because of how their scar feels, not how it looks.
Yes, and this is often the reason women come. A scar on the surface can be small and neat while the tissue underneath has knitted together in ways that pull. That pulling is what causes the tightness, the restriction in movement and the odd sensations further away from the scar itself.
It's gentle work, and we wait until your scar has fully closed and the surface is smooth before starting, usually around eight weeks after surgery. There are a few situations where I'd ask you to speak to your midwife, GP or consultant first, and I'll always tell you if that's the case rather than carrying on regardless.
Restore Therapy is the main one. It was founded by Emma Holly, who has spent around thirty years working with scar tissue and now teaches practitioners in the NHS and in private practice. Their courses are taught in person over two days. That's where I trained.
I'm based in Leeds and I see women from right across West Yorkshire, including Bradford, Wakefield, Huddersfield and Halifax, and into North Yorkshire around Harrogate and Knaresborough. Home visits outside Leeds are quoted individually, and I'll always tell you the cost before you book.