Low carb and scqr tissue healing

AngInCanada
AngInCanada Posts: 947 Member
edited November 20 in Social Groups
Men.....here's your warning. This is a TMI post.

I had an endometrial ablation last year due to a blood clotting disorder. Basically they burn the uterus with scalding hot water inside of a balloon to create scar tissue in the uterus and eliminating or greatly reducing periods.

So since last year up until when I started low carb may 4th, my periods have been almost non existent. No PMS symptoms either.

Today is the first day of the second period I've had while on low carb and both period have been significantly heavier. No where near as bad as before the ablation but more than before. And PMS today like nobody's business.

So I'm wondering, can low carb/keto heal scar tissue? I'm wondering if this diet is somehow helping heal the uterone scarring from the ablation. This procedure is supposed to last 10 years before possibly needing to be redone so after a year its a bit nerveracking.

Replies

  • mlinton_mesapark
    mlinton_mesapark Posts: 517 Member
    That's an intriguing possibility. I wonder if they can see the scar tissue via ultrasound and find out whether it is healing ahead of schedule.

    Crazy PMS could be owing to extra estrogen release from far burning, too, if I recall correctly.

    I cut my left index finger at the joint at the base of the fingertip recently, all the way to the bone, trying to remove a zip tie with my husband's Swiss Army knife. (Can't unrecommend that enough!)

    I have no basis of comparison, but the healing is progressing nicely.
  • mlinton_mesapark
    mlinton_mesapark Posts: 517 Member
    Fat burning, not far burning.
  • JennyToy1
    JennyToy1 Posts: 26 Member
    i have had an ablasion also. I have been low carbing on and off for almost a year. Low Carbing seems to make my hormones stronger-stronger/different PMS and slightly heavier flow and sometimes more cramps. However, when i low carb 3-4 months the body adjusts and things calm down-less PMS and lighter flow and way less cramps. That's been my experience anyway. When i am fully adapted there's a noticeable improvement. I never thought about it as healing the scar tissue, just a hormonal issue.
  • minties82
    minties82 Posts: 907 Member
    My periods have been heavier since low carb for sure. A tampon change every 3 hours versus 6-8. Also lasts for 5 days plus spotting rather than 3 days like it used to.

    Wound tissue does not heal any better for me on this WOE. I had a small surgery to remove an abscess and it took a total of 11.5 weeks to heal over! I've had 2 c-sections in the past that were so fast to heal and that is major surgery so I was surprised this took so long.
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
    I know that protein helps healing but I don't know if that is what is happening in your case. I would think if it was, they would warn people not to eat a lot of protein after a procedure such as that.
  • KnitOrMiss
    KnitOrMiss Posts: 10,103 Member
    I haven't had any major changes in those things, but I am on hormonal birth control to stop from having periods. The only time things got really bad was for about a month when I had upped my Inositol (it is vitamin B8, used for balancing hormones and such with PCOS, anxiety, depression, Alzheimer's, etc.) and apparently I took a high enough dosage, it tried to correct the action I took from my BCP. But my hormones also showed closed to balanced before I started low carbing, and my doctor didn't test this last time, so I don't have concrete data to share.
  • toadqueen
    toadqueen Posts: 592 Member
    I agree with deksgrl that protein promotes healing but I have been eating lowcarb for years and have many exterior keloid scars and they have not healed. I was without a period for several years between my 30s and 40s and it started back heavy once I began eating lowcarb and remains not as heavy into my early 50s. I attribute it to hormonal changes.
  • AngInCanada
    AngInCanada Posts: 947 Member
    So most likely hormonal changes rather than scar healing. Makes sense.
  • deboxley
    deboxley Posts: 8 Member
    For what it's worth, keloids are hypertrophic scars, in other words your body has actually made too MUCH scar tissue. There is no healing them, although they can be injected with steroids, treated (sometimes) with laser and so on. They are tricky because sometimes removing them just makes them grow back even worse. Many people outgrow them. I have been keto adapted for probably around 3 years now and had a history of keloid scarring in the distant past. Because of the amount of weight I've lost and kept off, coupled with proliferative breast tissue in my armpits after having a breast reduction 15 years ago, nearly 3 mos ago I had removal of the breast tissue coupled with crescent upper body lift and a medial butt/thigh lift. (Talk about TMI!)

    This entails about a total of 3' of scarring which was pretty significant at first but has healed quickly. I am really mindful about the hypertrophic scarring tendency but so far have healed fast and only minor scar proliferation under my arms which massage and silicone scar sheeting seems to be helping. I have made an effort to up my protein to at least 100 per day from my normal 75ish zone.

    Of course that is external and what you're dealing with is internal, but it might be interesting to see if you could get an MRI or Ultrasound image of your endometrium and see if it has thickened again. It's a difficult call to be sure, and is probably so dependent on individual genetics and dietary history as well as hormonal profile. I think one thing we can say with certainty is that a low carb diet coupled with adequate protein will definitely help in the healing process and is also anti-inflammatory. That should in theory help prevent scar over-growths (keloids) at least. Deb
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