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Scar tissue is dead fibrotic tissue that is also called an adhesion. It typically forms in tendons, ligaments, muscles, joints and fascia. Surgery, injury and repetitive motion are the leading causes of scar tissue. When a muscle, ligament or a tendon is torn or damaged, the body heals them in three stages. The first stage is acute inflammation, then comes repair and after that remodeling. When a muscle tightens up due to injury or repetitive motion, it may start swelling. Oxygen supply is restricted to the tissues and this results in the formation of adhesions that are called scar tissue.

After any sort of injury, the body attempts to heal itself. The incision made during the surgery is therefore healed by the body. When the skin is cut into, the body produces connective tissues, adhesions and collagen to replace the muscle, skin and ligaments that were damaged. The scar tissue that is thus formed is much different from the surrounding tissue. They lack the pigmentation, hair and color of the outer skin layer. Deep scar tissue often develops in spider-web like threads that help the body revert to the normal. The skin may never go back to the pre-surgery appearance, but the most of the functions are brought back to normal.

When scar tissue forms near the nerve root, it is called epidural fibrosis. Traditional means of open spinal surgery is an invasive procedure and requires extensive cutting through the spinal cord. This results in the formation of scar tissue. Even if the surgery turns out to be a success and the spinal disorder is treated, the scar tissue often causes future complications such as severe pain requiring more surgery to treat it

The scar tissue itself does not have nerve endings. But when the scar tissue adheres to the lumbar nerves, it can cause severe pain. Epidural fibrosis often forms within six to twelve weeks after the spinal surgery. Immediately after the surgery, the patient experiences a period of pain relief. But as the scar tissue forms, the pain returns as recurrent leg or back pain.

Patients suffering from post operative pain caused by scar tissue are ideal candidates for laser spine surgery . A procedure called laminotomy can effectively treat the pain that is caused by epidural fibrosis. It is unwise to open up the spine again with an invasive traditional procedure because that is what caused the formation of scar tissue in the first place. Laser spine surgery is a minimally invasive procedure where the surgeon removes offending scar tissue arthroscopically.

A portion of the lamina or the bony plate that protects the spinal cord is removed to allow more room for the nerves. Laser spine surgery is much gentler than traditional means because there is very less damage to the tissue.