Fibrosis

Fibrosis is a normal protective reaction to an injury done to any tissue of the body. It involves the lymphatic system and its seek and destroy team called lymphocytes, along with a host of other defenders.

When you get a cut on your hand, the tissue surrounding the cut will swell up and slightly harden. What’s happening is the lymph system and the cardiovascular system team up to destroy and carry away any possible invaders.The swelling is the effect of your body flooding the injured area with protective cells and repair materials. That hardness around the cut which swells and then disappears when you’re healed? That’s called fibrosis, and can be classified as scar tissue.

Do I Have Fibrosis?

In an ideal world, fibrosis doesn’t hang around after the injury is resolved. But in cases of more extreme trauma, such as surgery, more fibrosis is created than the body can handle by itself. This can also happen in cases where there is slow, prolonged injury, such as ingesting harmful substances, or being exposed to allergens (your sinuses feel hard and stuck in allergy season). The body might also create excess fibrosis if it runs in the family (if both you and your mother have hard, swollen, immobile ankles, for instance). Fibrosis can occur in every tissue: the skin, the muscle, the fat, the individual organs. For example, cellulite is often fibrosis of the fat cells.

Another way you might notice fibrosis is if you have an old surgical scar which is still somewhat hard or puffy and restricts movement. Or perhaps you gained a lot of mysterious weight after a surgical procedure and haven’t been able to lose it as easily as you used to.

The point here is that fibrosis you can see, fibrosis in the joints, or fibrosis after a surgery, is optional. A hardened scar is NOT an ideal outcome after surgery, and can even counteract the benefits of your surgery. If you’ve noticed sudden weight gain, fatigue, joint pain and heaviness, your limbs feel hard, and your medical tests come up normal, most likely fibrosis is involved. Fibrosis does not usually show on a doctor-prescribed test; fibrosis is typically treated indirectly by massage, lymphatic drainage, acupuncture, and nutrition.

What Can Be Done?

Therapists at The Better Place study fibrosis and its effects on the body. We understand how to identify it and how to treat it. If you’re curious about learning more, or have questions about how fibrosis might appear in your body, please reach out.