Trish: If you've had a C-section and you are following your hospital's recovery instructions, you need to stop right now.

What we're about to talk with you about could be the difference between healing properly during those first six weeks versus being in pain for months.

I'm Trish, a lab and delivery nurse of 16 years who's seen.

Thousands of C-sections.

And today I am chatting with Crystal from C-Section Physio.

She is a physical therapist y'all for 17 years.

She's also a professor for over 11 years, and I'm gonna let her tell more about that in a moment.

But even if you think you're doing everything right, even if your doctor said, oh.

You're fine.

That's normal.

And if you've already are weeks into your recovery, what we're talking about today can still help you.

So we're gonna cover the recovery mistakes that 90% of C-section moms, and I'll let Crystal correct that if that's wrong, but I think that's pretty accurate make because hospitals don't actually tell you.

Much, I'm not gonna say anything but much.

And you're not getting supported properly, I'm sure during your recovery.

The, we're gonna scratch that part, Elias.

So now let's chat with Crystal.

Crystal welcome.

Can you tell everyone a little bit about who you are and why you're so passionate about what's possible when these moms know what to do during their recovery.

Crystal: Hi, Trish.

Yes, absolutely, and thanks for having me today.

I'm so passionate about this because I went through this myself.

So as a physical therapist, for 17 years, I've treated many patients pre and post-op, and they all have a clear rehab plan, a clear recovery plan, so.

My intent was to go into my first birth, unmedicated natural birth.

I figured, I know my body, I know my pelvic floor.

I've got this.

Unfortunately, I did not take your birth course, which I should have 'cause I think that might have prevented me from having my first C-section and my second potentially.

But so I went completely unprepared for what a C-section could be.

I actually skipped all the pages relating to C-section 'cause I didn't want to, you know, bring it about, call it into You didn't wanna have bad juju.

Exactly.

But that was a huge mistake.

Mm-hmm.

And the biggest, you know, aha moment for me was, oh my goodness, I had major, major surgery.

And I'm not given any recovery plan.

My expectation, I've worked in hospitals before and after surgery as a physical therapist.

We would go to the patient and we would help them, and then we would give them a recovery plan.

I got nothing of that.

It was so shocking to me that all I was given were a few things not to do.

So essentially I was told not to lift anything heavier than your baby for six weeks.

I was told that I could shower, but I wasn't told how to go about that.

And I was told, you know, nothing vaginally for six weeks as well, but nothing about what to expect in the coming weeks, how to prepare my home.

What to do, like, are there things that I can do to make my recovery better?

Yeah.

And there are so many things that we can do to improve recovery and prevent longer term complications and pains and restrictions.

Trish: And I just, I, it, it floors me every time.

'cause obviously I spend time with you.

You're in my coaching mastermind and we've talked a lot.

We deep dive into your why, which you guys is so passionate.

But it, every time I think about it, even though I know it, it's insane to me that someone who has had a major abdominal surgery is sent home, number one, to care for another human.

And number two, without post-op instructions from a surgeon.

Yeah.

Like

Crystal: yes

Trish: it is.

It is crazy.

Every OB

Crystal: should have their own rehab protocol, in my opinion.

And that's sort of one of my side, you know, wishes for the future is that all OBS will have a rehab protocol.

I think they're starting some of them.

So you think some do.

I know of Avery Rehab protocol actually.

Yes.

So there's at least one.

Okay.

Now I hope that it'll spread.

Yeah, yeah.

But that's, you know, that is what really made me think I have to change this.

This is not acceptable.

Like, we do need to recover.

We can recover so much better.

I was so grateful that I had my knowledge.

Mm-hmm.

But even with my knowledge that I had at the time.

It wasn't quite enough and I felt very alone.

I hadn't set up a plan for my recovery, so I was just trying to wing it.

Trish: Yeah,

Crystal: and, and luckily I had some knowledge, but yes.

Yeah, because a

Trish: lot of times this is an unexpected surgery as opposed to most surgeries where you have a pre-op appointment, then you have a plan of care, you have a physical therapist set up, you have all these things.

And for a lot of moms, in fact, like a lot, a lot too many moms end up in an unexpected cesarean and then they're not given.

Any information and, and even thinking about you with all the knowledge you have, you're still an exhausted brand new mother who just had surgery and you have to care for a baby

Crystal: somehow.

Trish: Yeah.

While dealing with all these, with your boobs, symptoms, with your bottom, all the things.

Yeah, exactly.

Crystal: Exactly.

So

Trish: I would love for you to, so I know you have a program where you come alongside moms in the first six weeks, eight weeks.

And we're gonna link to that in the show notes because I'm just gonna say you guys need this.

Like we're talking about your body and recovery for the rest of your life.

Like it's just.

I, it just blows me away that there's nothing in place.

So we'll have information in the show notes, but I would love for you to walk us through some of the top mistakes, I guess if you wanna phrase it that way you can correct me and we can go a totally different direction.

'cause you know, I like this just to be a conversation, but what do you think are some of the top mistakes that are being made in that crucial time?

Crystal: So I would say the first mistake is that we're misled into thinking that we should not do anything or any exercises for the first six weeks Now.

I think there are certain exercises that we absolutely should not be doing, but to say that we should not be doing any mm-hmm.

Is misleading because actually you're doing yourself a disservice because when you have an incision and you have more than one incision, so there's many layers, seven layers that they cut through.

Mm-hmm.

And then there's not only, we think that there's only that one scar.

'cause we see one scar on the outside, but you have also a scar on your uterus.

You have also scar on your rectus sheath.

You, it's not stitched, but your linear alba needs to heal as well.

Mm-hmm.

So as a physical therapist, I'm actually able to feel those separate scars.

So when I'm working on people, I'm not working just on that external scar.

So I think you need to keep that in mind that your body is healing, and when it heals those first six weeks, it needs to lay down scar tissue and you want that to happen.

Scar tissue is amazing.

It's great.

We need it.

But then what happens if you're not moving and you're afraid of moving, plus you have pain, so your posture is going to be altered.

Mm-hmm.

'cause you kind of want to protect that area, then you're not going to retrain the body.

And that new tissue where it needs to move so it can kind of stay stuck.

So it is really important to actually start with very gentle movements.

We're talking about deep breathing, 360 type breathing, diaphragmatic, there's a lot of terms out there.

Mm-hmm.

But you need to be breathing, belly breathing, but also expanding the chest because you're very restricted after surgery.

how soon can they start that day one.

Okay.

Day one, you don't wait till six weeks, but you're doing it gently.

You're doing it within the pain.

Okay.

So you, for example, the breathing, you're gonna breathe in until you feel a little stretch on your scar.

Mm-hmm.

But it's not painful, it's just the light discomfort.

So I think it's important you're going to gently progress through the first six weeks.

What I do is gently progress and build, okay?

But all within functional movements.

So the first couple weeks is more crucial.

You don't want to be damaging that tissue that's healing.

So you will be very gentle, but you will be getting up.

You have to get up.

So this is another thing that they don't tell you that you can manage your pressure, your intraabdominal pressure.

So when you're getting up.

Sitting down, moving around, having a bowel movement.

Yeah.

You don't want to be forcing and increasing your intraabdominal pressure because that's going to push against your scar and cause pain.

Yeah, it sounds painful.

Yes.

So learning how to manage that.

And you do that by breathing, so essentially by exhaling as you're going through that.

Harder movement through the transition that will help have less pressure inside the abdomen, which will cause you less pain.

So I do teach moms how to safely move.

It's not that there won't be any pain, but there will be a lot less pain and how to safely poop.

Exactly.

Yeah.

Because And constipation is a big thing after a C-section.

Yeah.

Well after.

'cause you had birth anesthesia in general.

Yeah, exactly.

After birth in general.

But on top of it, you've had the anesthesia, you're not moving as much.

Yeah.

'cause you are in pain.

So there's a lot of factors that

Trish: contribute.

Yeah.

Well then you have the high risk moms who may have had magnesium or they were in bed for days prior to the C-section.

And it's just a.

Crystal: Big mess.

Exactly.

I just spoke to a mom today, two weeks she's in bed and she knows, she just found out she's having a C-section tomorrow.

So yes, two weeks that you have not been moving very much.

So things can be a bit sluggish.

Yeah.

So again, there, it's important not to be straining on the toilet because that'll cause you, and even just getting on and off the toilet, you might need some help.

And there's also a lot of assistive devices that we use for other surgeries that could come in handy if that's something you wanna have.

So instead of having one patient and they probably get them.

Trish: Yeah, they should probably get them like prescribed to them through insurance.

Crystal: Yes, that's exactly it.

Especially if you're having a Plan C-section to me, you should be getting the gear in advance.

Yeah.

And if you have an emergency or urgent C-section, like an unplanned C-section, day one, they should be, you know, setting this up for you so that you can have them in the first day.

No one's doing this.

Trish: Yeah, it's really sad.

Yeah.

Wow.

Oh my goodness.

Okay, so we've talked about moving and doing the breathing.

We've talked about like getting up and down and pooping.

What are some other things that you want these moms to know?

Crystal: So the other thing is scar care.

So all of a sudden you're expected to go home and look after this incision.

Yeah.

And you have no training in what you're looking for.

And Well, and a lot

Trish: of them don't wanna look at it.

Crystal: Absolutely.

That, even me, I've seen a lot of scars.

Yeah.

And I just, it's different when it's your body.

It's like I didn't want to accept that it was there and it didn't feel like it was part of my body and by not looking at it like maybe it didn't happen.

Trish: Well, and I'm sure too, I know a lot of my students, 'cause you know, I spend a lot of time with them, they feel almost like their body betrayed them by not giving birth vaginally.

And so looking at the scar, and I know a lot of them don't want their partner to look.

Crystal: Oh, there's so much to work through emotionally.

Yeah.

Like the acceptance and the grieving of you, you know, the birth experience that you I still grieve it.

Yeah.

When I hear other, just the other day, I have a mom who's talking about a.

Her vaginal birth experience, which was not easy, but I still had this feeling of missing out.

Yeah.

That I'll never know what that's like potentially.

Trish: So do you think like what we're about to talk about and the Scar care could potentially help walk through those emotions of accepting it?

Absolutely.

Crystal: I think, I mean, I think having people to talk to as well.

Having people to share, and especially if you have other people who've been there that helps, or at least people who are understanding.

Yeah.

But yes, I think, you know, a first step is accepting and looking and hopefully, you know, changing that mindset of my body, failed me into my body, created this perfect little human.

Yeah.

And.

And how, and I went to the end of birth to how have this baby.

Yeah.

Yes.

How amazing is your body that is able to have this C-section and recover from it.

Mm-hmm.

And care for a baby at the same time.

That is absolutely amazing.

Yeah.

I agree.

But I, yeah, and I do think that, you know, maybe.

Looking at your scar initially.

I do have some strategies for that.

'cause sometimes looking at it is hard.

Mm-hmm.

So if you can't initially, maybe you can have someone else start for you.

'cause you do want someone having an eye on that scar.

'cause you do wanna monitor for any signs of infection.

Right.

So you need to know what all those signs are.

Um, and then how you can progress is maybe having someone take a picture of it, looking it at it on your phone.

So it feels a little bit.

Removed and sort of, you know, baby steps.

And you can also start just palpate, like, sorry, palpating the physio things.

But you can start touching your abdomen, not directly on the scar, but above just to kind of reconnect with your body and eventually when you feel ready, hopefully sooner rather than later, so you can monitor your scar, you can start to kind of look down.

And that I do think has a healing aspect to it where you're like, okay, this is my body.

Connecting to it.

This is part of me.

This happened.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Trish: And it's okay.

And it's amazing.

So after they get more comfortable looking at it and then potentially touching it safely.

What would be the next steps for carrying for their scar?

Crystal: So what and when exactly.

It's very important to, you know, be monitoring, to see like, does it seem dry or is there any leaking coming from it?

When you're showering, how are you supposed to do that?

So you're not necessarily scrubbing over top.

Yeah.

Which po probably no one wants to do that, but you should still run water over top of it.

Usually we, we suggest not using any soaps, but if, you know, your doctor has suggested otherwise, you could,

Trish: yeah, but

Crystal: you wanna keep it dry.

So making sure that when you do come out of the shower, that you're drying it with something that's clean.

So I suggest like a small wash cloth that you can, okay.

Just, you know, a new wash cloth every time.

Use a towel for the rest of your body.

But for that, a new fresh washcloth every single time.

Okay.

And if it's hot outside, you wanna make sure you're airing it out a lot as well.

The other thing is the clothing option.

So you don't want anything that's going to rub up against that, like, constricted right there.

Yeah.

You don't wanna constrict it.

Okay.

However, a little bit of compression is actually beneficial, but you want any elastic?

Bands to be well above your waist.

And I even suggest no elastic bands.

Like you don't want any specific compression at any level.

Okay, but a little bit of compression.

You need a

Trish: scar because a lot of us are wearing elastic bands after baby.

Yeah, that's

Crystal: hard.

So you can use, the wraps though.

There are elastic wraps that you can use that will help with the, it will help compress, which is good 'cause it will reduce swelling and that helps to prevent.

The, that c-section shelf that can develop as well.

Yeah.

So that along with, so you talking like a binder

Trish: or are you talking about something different?

Yes, because I was gonna ask binder.

Crystal: Yeah, I was gonna

Trish: ask you about a binder because someone got a little snotty with me about binders on my Instagram and I I I saw that.

Yeah.

And I'm a huge fan of binders and I Did you feel like that was accurate information?

Crystal: So I personally have not used one myself, but I do have clients that have used them and love them.

Right.

At the end of the day, the main thing is that it should be elastic and not restrictive.

Yeah.

And what's important is that it's not compressing, it's for support.

It's not for compression.

It should be a gentle hug.

Yeah.

It should not be compressive or restrictive.

Yeah.

That's the main thing.

Yeah.

It, you definitely don't want it pushing down onto your pelvic floor.

Mm-hmm.

Because that we all know could, you know, potentially lead to things like prolapse, things like that.

But a gentle wrap that is comfortable.

Doesn't feel, feel restrictive.

Yeah, that's supportive.

That can help reduce swelling.

That is fine.

Right.

And if you can't afford something like that, you have alternatives.

So you can use also, just super high waist underwear.

So my guide is that, you know, the underwear should go up to the belly button.

Yeah.

And not, again, not have like a tight elastic band.

Trish: Yeah.

Crystal: Or maybe if you're, if your maternity leggings were a little bit compressive and still give you that hug, that might be an option.

Yeah.

Or if you have pre maternity that do the job as well, you just don't want them to be too tight again.

Trish: Yeah.

Right.

Yeah.

Which is the point.

It's a binder to support you.

Yes.

It's not to lose weight or anything like that, it's just support.

Exactly.

And I know for my patients, it helps them move more.

Like before they wear it, they're not getting up and moving as much.

So it supports and also decreases pain.

Exactly,

Crystal: so, so yeah, it is a support and that's the thing.

Yeah.

You wanna use it as a support initially, but you do want to wean off of it.

Yeah, I recommend usually between the six and eight week mark is when you probably wanna start weaning off of that.

Oh, okay.

And in terms of wearing, yeah, I usually tell ' Trish: em the first couple of weeks, so, Crystal: yeah.

Yeah.

I mean, as soon as they feel like they can, yeah, the better because you do want your own.

You know, na, your muscle is your core to Yeah.

Activate to do that.

But I feel like for my

Trish: students, it seems like the first couple weeks is sufficient.

Like they're pretty good at coming off of around three to four weeks.

So yeah, I would agree

Crystal: with that for the most part.

Trish: Yeah, sure.

There are some people that are more fearful.

Crystal: Yeah.

Yeah.

And it's so individual, the healing, but for the most part, mm-hmm.

The, when you have the most pain is between that two and three weeks, I would say.

After that, the pain tends to be more manageable.

Yeah.

So they don't tend to need that as much, but yes, exactly.

You can use the the belly bands to, if you're gonna go out for a walk or if you're gonna be up on your feet a little more, that would be a good moment to wear it, to have that extra support.

Trish: What about stairs?

Do you have any tips on stairs?

If they have stairs in their house, would you prefer they stay downstairs or, yeah,

Crystal: I do suggest that they try to set up on a main floor where they don't have to do it too often.

So ideally, you're coming down for the day, let's say.

Yeah.

If you have sort of that cottage style.

You have everything you need, you're just going back up for when you go to bed.

Some will even set up their, their sleeping on the main floor for the first couple weeks until they feel a little bit more mobile, because stairs does definitely add some strain on the scar.

Okay?

when you do do the stairs, you should be doing only one step at a time and exhaling when it's the hardest.

Not holding your breath.

That's one thing you don't wanna be doing when, okay, you're doing difficult things, is holding your breath.

So exhale when it's more challenging.

But I would have like sort of my little comfy recovery set up.

Yeah.

On the main floor where you have your essentials.

I also like to have, those, what is it called, like a reacher.

Grabber tool.

Oh yeah.

A little grabber tool.

Yeah.

Yeah, those are awesome.

Probably just for the first couple weeks again, but these little things for those first couple weeks really can make a difference.

Yeah.

Just your

Trish: abdominal muscles, you use them for so many different things.

Crystal: Oh my God.

I was just thinking that today, like it was the biggest awakening to how much my core is involved with every single movement.

Like just raising your arm.

I know.

Like I couldn't even, I couldn't even wash my hair after my first C-section.

That was painful with my second.

It wasn't for some reason.

But, well,

Trish: I, I did not have a c-section, but I did have a tummy tuck.

Mm.

And I had a little mommy makeover and I, my doctor told me to take off eight to 10 weeks Right.

From work, but I was like, eh, I think I couldn't go back in six to eight.

So I went back on week seven, and this was back when we paper charted, you know, and I had to staple one of those big staplers and I stapled and I was like.

Ah, like it was the worst.

I ended up going home.

Absolutely.

And I took

Crystal: another week

Trish: off.

Crystal: Yeah.

That's just like chopping vegetables or things that Yes.

That's one thing

Trish: I

Crystal: tell

Trish: moms to avoid.

Yes.

It's the same movement and it's holy hell.

So just so you know, buy pre-chopped veggies.

Don't be chopping.

Crystal: Oh my gosh.

That's another thing is like pre-made meals for the first couple weeks if you can.

A Agreed.

Yeah.

And if you have a plan C-section.

You know, get those meals pre-made and in the freezer so they're very easy to access.

Yeah.

Trish: And then let someone else take care of you, ask for help.

That's the biggest thing.

Yeah.

Crystal: What made my second recovery?

Well, even my first one, but I didn't have the, the, the support planned right away because it wasn't expected.

Yeah.

For my second, I was, I went into.

A tolac.

So trial of labor.

Trish: Yeah.

Hoping

Crystal: for a vbac.

That didn't happen, but I had everything in place.

I had the support.

My mom was ready waiting.

Mm-hmm.

And that made a world of a difference.

So that's the number one thing I tell all moms is to have good support.

Support that.

Yeah.

You know, will be helpful.

'cause not everyone has a mom that's super helpful.

I've had a lot of patients that they have to recruit other people because they either don't have their mom local available or they just don't find the help that useful or their partners, same thing.

So sometimes you may need to recruit a few people to ensure that you have that support, especially in those first weeks.

I suggest.

Four weeks if it's the first and you don't have other small kids to take care of.

And six weeks if you do have small kids to take care of.

Trish: Yeah.

Because having that toddler or that other child to take care of, that's a whole different bag.

Yeah.

You're gonna wanna lift

Crystal: them and you're not

Trish: supposed to.

Yeah.

And you're not supposed to.

Exactly.

So that was the one thing.

So for lifting rules, because I know we always tell them, don't lift anything over the weight of the baby.

Yeah.

Is that what you guys tell as well?

Crystal: Yes, absolutely.

The thing is you also have to be mindful of where you're lifting them from and to, so if you're, you should not be lifting them from a seat that's on the floor, for example.

Yeah.

Initially, because that will cause more strain.

And also I teach sort of the, the techniques in how to reduce the pressure on your abdomen when you're bringing them from their bassinet or their crib or the change table, because sometimes that can really bring on a lot of pain as well.

Both on the scar, but also back pain if you're not doing it properly.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Trish: So, yeah.

So I know for my, my daughter-in-law, 'cause she had a, a primary C-section, she ended up sleeping in the recliner for a while.

Crystal: Yeah, yeah, I do.

If you have access to one, some do like having the recliner for a few days a week.

Yeah.

Up to two weeks even sometimes.

And if you don't have access to that, I suggest building a pillow ramp.

Trish: Yeah, because I love pillow

Crystal: ramps.

Oh my gosh.

I had an appendectomy.

And you can buy a wedge pillow.

You can buy a wedge pillow too.

Yes, absolutely.

But I had an appendectomy that came in handy for that too.

Yeah.

So post-op, you're not usually wanting to live flat.

Yeah, it'll probably not be possible.

So building up that ramp is good.

Okay.

What's nice about recliners is if they're automatic and electric, then they can help you, helps you sit up as well.

Yeah.

The challenge of getting outta bed, yeah, that can be quite painful.

So there are techniques that you can do to help get outta bed.

That will make it a little bit.

Less painful.

Yeah.

Trish: Any other like big golden tips that they need to hear?

Crystal: Yeah.

I think a lot of people wait for that six weeks clearance so that they can just go back to their everyday life.

Yeah.

But the reality is that you're, you know, you're not bouncing back all of a sudden.

When you do return to activities, you should do it progressively.

So it's important that you have the basic building blocks Yeah.

That you have learned to reengage your core.

'cause what happens after surgery, the core kind of, you know, it, the nerves were cut, things need to reactivate, and sometimes when you don't, do the right exercises to specifically activate, they're not gonna activate.

So there's an example after my first C-section, I was at the gym trying to do, it's the captain chair where you have your arms.

In this, device and you're trying to lift your legs up.

Yeah, but my lower abs just were not listening to my brain.

I was trying to lift my legs and it wouldn't happen.

And being a physio, I had an idea how to resolve this.

I had my partner lift my legs up for me a few times, and so I was able to control them on the way down.

After doing that for.

A few repetitions, then I was able to lift them.

This was like six months later.

'cause this was COVID times, gyms were closed.

So by the time I got back to one.

Yeah.

So it's really important to reactivate things In a slow, progressive way before going back to everything.

So that six weeks clearance doesn't mean you're ready to go back to everything you used to be doing.

Yeah.

And you really should put in these, basic building blocks before going to the next level to prevent injury and chronic pain.

Trish: Okay, so, so we've talked about these breathing movements that are just really easy, and I say it in quote exercises.

Mm-hmm.

But I really like that, that you can start it on day one because it gives her a measure of control Yes.

As well with her healing journey.

And then we talked about like.

You know, getting up and down going poo.

And then we talked about like baby steps towards looking at your scar and accepting your scar.

Now we've talked about activating your core.

I was just wondering if you could talk about scar massage, because mm-hmm.

I thought that's where you were going before.

But you were really talking about like getting comfortable with the scar, which I hadn't really thought about that.

When do you start recommending like full on scar massage?

Is that, I mean, I know kind of, but that's a great

Crystal: question.

And I recommend desensitization before six weeks, which can be considered a massage technique.

Yeah, but it's, it's essentially what it is, is kind of light touch.

Okay.

And it's not directly over you.

You don't wanna do anything directly over the incision.

'cause it's not

Trish: closed yet.

It's not healed.

Exactly.

Right.

Yeah.

Crystal: You need to make sure that incision is fully closed, so there's no possible entry for bacteria to cause infection.

And you don't wanna also disrupt, you know, the fragile healing tissues too early.

Right.

'cause you don't want to open them essentially.

Well, they may not

Trish: wanna

Crystal: touch

Trish: it.

Crystal: At that point, at that

Trish: too, because it hurts.

Yeah.

Crystal: Yeah.

And you need to do it when it feels comfortable.

It's not because at six weeks, right.

And, and you should have clearance.

You should have a professional look at your incision.

Because I've had a lot of people think that their incision was closed, but I can see tiny little entry points.

Trish: Yeah, I've seen that before as well.

It's not, yeah, it's not quite right, especially on the

Crystal: ends.

Trish: Yeah.

Crystal: Yeah.

You shouldn't be having a bath yet, and you shouldn't be massaging and all.

Okay.

So let's

Trish: just say they've been cleared.

It's, it's

Crystal: closed.

It's good.

Yes.

That's usually around six weeks, sometimes a little earlier for some moms, sometimes a little later for other moms.

Mm-hmm.

At that point, they can start gently massaging, but again, you're probably gonna wanna do it progressively.

So numbness is very common right after a C-section.

The desensitization that you can do from day one.

Above the scar that will help with the numbness a little bit.

It'll start reconnecting the brain to those nerves.

Yeah.

And then adding the pressure later on.

So massage that has a little bit more pressure once you're cleared, that will further help with the numbness, but then you also eventually want to work in into the deeper layers because mm-hmm.

Between all those layers that were cut.

There can be a lot of scar tissue and adhesions and adhesions can be, can even form to organs and things like that, right?

And it's great.

You're not gonna get rid of the scar tissue, but you can make it more mobile.

So that's the goal with your massage afterwards is to get.

Scar tissue and your body moving in the directions that it needs to go.

So the movement is initially will help you with that, the specific exercises.

Right.

But this will help you get to sort of those deeper layers as well.

And there's a lot that you can do yourself.

I do think sometimes it is good to see someone else to do sort of those deeper layers that you might not be able to access as much.

Mm-hmm.

But I would recommend that everyone does scar massage.

Absolutely.

I, I do too as

Trish: well.

Okay, so we're, we're about to wrap up.

I had one more question.

I was just wondering what your thought is on like silicone tape or mm-hmm.

Any of those things.

'cause I did that and my scar from my tummy tuck is beautiful.

Yes.

So I'm just wondering if you have any thoughts on like, using oil like vitamin E oil or silicone tape or anything like that on their scar.

Crystal: Yes, I'm definitely a believer in the silicone tape.

I personally did not use it for my first 'cause I didn't know about it.

Mm-hmm.

And it was interesting 'cause I was able to compare with my second, and what it did is essentially it made it thinner and lighter sooner.

Yeah.

So if you want that scar to look better sooner.

Then definitely you can use the silicone strips and it can only, you could probably see results in a couple months, if not sooner.

Yeah.

Trish: Yeah.

So I used it daily for months.

Yeah.

Like I just put the tape and it puts pressure on the scar, so it might not be as raised, especially for people who get a keloid scar.

So it's definitely good.

Okay.

Crystal, I told you before my mamas do not like long episodes, so I would love for you if you have anything you feel like everyone needs to know and then tell everyone how they can find you and how they can work with you.

And I'm gonna let you guys know that we are going to, we've, we did sign up.

For your program.

So if you guys enroll in Crystal's program, you're also gonna get our belly birth masterclass for free, so

Crystal: yay.

Trish: There's a little deal.

So yes, maybe they could use the code Labor nurse Mama.

Does that sound good?

That sounds great.

Yes.

Okay.

So go ahead and tell everyone where they can find you, how they can work with you and all the good things.

Crystal: Yes, so I'm on Instagram, C-section Physio I, my website is www.csectionphysio.com, and I have a recovery program that Trish just mentioned, so you can register for that.

And what you'll get in that is a plan for the first six weeks where you're often left to your own device to figure out and wing your recovery, but you don't have to do that.

You can go in with a clear plan and guidance and support.

I also have, group coaching calls three times a month, and also a community that you can access to have live support from other moms, which is

Trish: priceless.

That's priceless.

Everything to be able to talk to other moms.

Yeah.

It's everything.

I love that.

Crystal: Yes.

Trish: Well, thank you so much for being here, crystal.

You know, I adore you and this was a great conversation.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, Trish.

I was

Crystal: so happy to be on here and I love you so much both in the business world and the birth world.

Trish: Well, thank you.

Okay, ladies, as always, I'm so just honored that you've spent time with us.

I'm so proud of you guys for educating yourself and if you're pregnant.

And you're like, well, I am not gonna have a C-section.

I totally understand that, but I agree with Crystal that you should be educated and prepared.

So we are so proud of you for listening to the end.

For those of you guys who have had a C-section, a belly birth, a Cesarean, you need to follow Crystal and she can give you some great advice.

We see you, we know that you are going through a gamut of emotions and recovery and all of that, so we're happy you're here.

Make sure you guys hit subscribe, leave a review, and I will see you again next Friday.

Bye for now.