After pain goes away, your body is still healing

Everyone understands that when you break something it needs to heal and it takes time. 

It is the same for our tissues and organs. Just because you may not be able to see the healing phases like wearing a cast, soft tissue needs time to heal.  Even if the pain goes away. 

Just like when wearing a cast, there may not be pain with a sprain/strain anymore. That does not mean that it is fully healed.  Pain is an emergency or acute situation.  The injury still needs to heal and remodel new tissue. 

Here are some examples of average healing time after an injury:

• Nerves: 3-4 months
• Cartilage: 12 weeks
• Ligaments: 10-12 weeks
• Bones: 6-8 weeks
  
  

Here are the phases of healing:

1. Inflammation (swelling)

Inflammation starts within the first hour or two after injury, peaks within 1-3 days but lasts at least a couple of weeks.

This is a natural event your body does automatically for healing. It needs to occur in order for damaged tissue to heal and new tissue to develop. 

2. Proliferation (growth)

Your body has to create scar tissue to repair your injury.  Just like a scab when you fall and scrape your skin. 

This process starts at around 24-48 hours and it can go on for several months.  Normally new tissue will be done developing after 4-6 months.  

3. Remodeling 

Even when you are past having pain and inflammation, your injury isn’t fully recovered or healed.

Ligaments, muscles and tendons all have different jobs in your body and this new tissue needs to move and perform like it did before the injury.  This process can actually continue for up to 2 years.

Your risk of injury yourself again is higher during this phase due to loss of strength, flexibility, balance and reaction time, so it’s really important to follow a healing program. 

This is why when seeking help for an injury, frequent visits are required and then slowly in time, visits are less frequent because your body and brain are communicating appropriately and tissue is working the way it should.