On Fibrin and sleep
The damp weather has made this week a bit rough. I finally finished all those silly computer games that were stopping me doing anything sensible though, and the weather *is* improving so things are on the up.
The osteopath yesterday was mainly working at my pecs (yes, my major pec and my minor pec). He was working on the fibrous tissue (fibrin) left behind after the operation, although he also checked the usual places including the right diaphragm which was tight again (probably a factor in my poor digestion and diabetes recently). Among the various discussions was one on the nature of fibrin.
Fibrin is dead tissue left as part of the healing process, to isolate the damaged area. Short-term it is very important although long term it is, at best, an irritant. It is formed as long strands which interlock (like fibreglass if you know about it; Shreddies is probably a more well known example!). While they are interlocked, they form a lump which interferes with the muscle and potentially causes other problems. By working at it, loosening it, and then stretching it in one direction you can start re-aligning the strands so that they all point in one direction. This will not get rid of the tissue, but it does return it to a more friendly state. I followed up asking about veins and, yes, all those needles do leave bits of fibrin around. Sadly, this probably explains the thickness of the valves in my veins (all those short-long lines clearly caused havoc), and there is no way to reverse the process. *sigh*
The osteopath yesterday was mainly working at my pecs (yes, my major pec and my minor pec). He was working on the fibrous tissue (fibrin) left behind after the operation, although he also checked the usual places including the right diaphragm which was tight again (probably a factor in my poor digestion and diabetes recently). Among the various discussions was one on the nature of fibrin.
Fibrin is dead tissue left as part of the healing process, to isolate the damaged area. Short-term it is very important although long term it is, at best, an irritant. It is formed as long strands which interlock (like fibreglass if you know about it; Shreddies is probably a more well known example!). While they are interlocked, they form a lump which interferes with the muscle and potentially causes other problems. By working at it, loosening it, and then stretching it in one direction you can start re-aligning the strands so that they all point in one direction. This will not get rid of the tissue, but it does return it to a more friendly state. I followed up asking about veins and, yes, all those needles do leave bits of fibrin around. Sadly, this probably explains the thickness of the valves in my veins (all those short-long lines clearly caused havoc), and there is no way to reverse the process. *sigh*