In this world of instant gratification, realistic expectations are often scarce. We have instant coffee, fast food, automatic deposit, etc. We demand results quickly and for most things we get them. Unfortunately, healing is not an instantaneous event. It takes time. Don’t get me wrong. I am as impatient as anyone. I like to see or experience improvement quickly. However, when it comes to healing, there is still a process.

This article was written to help you understand the healing process and what to expect on your road to recovery.

The healing process has several stages. They can be broken down into three major steps:

1. Inflammation: Whenever an injury occurs there is damage to tissue. Tissue damage causes a reaction in the body that brings chemicals to take care of the damage. It causes swelling which keeps the affected area from moving too much. The reaction also generates heat, hence the term. I like to compare inflammation to firefighters putting out a fire. They arrive quickly and start shooting water onto the fire. Though necessary, often times the damage from the water is just as bad as the damage from the fire itself. This is even more true of inflammation. If not taken care of quickly, inflammation will begin to destroy the good tissue and cause a host of other problems. For this reason, ice is a powerful tool. Controlling the swelling with compression and an anti-inflammatory diet can also be very valuable.

2. Scar Tissue Repair: After a 2-6 days of inflammation, the body starts to lay down scar tissue. Scar tissue is weak and it complicated by the fact that it is laid down quickly and haphazardly. To further the analogy of a home damaged by fire, imagine a crew going in after the water has mostly dried and quickly supporting the overall structure with whatever wood they can find. They make it more stable than it was but it is not as functional and it is certainly not as stable. Scar tissue is supposed to be a temporary process that takes 6 weeks to 6 months depending on the damage. Unfortunately, many people do not do what it takes to get beyond this stage. As a result, they easily tear the scar tissue and the process starts again. This is the cause of chronic injury.

3. Remodeling of Tissue: When scar tissue starts to act like the original tissue, the remodeling process has begun. It is critical to get to this stage if true healing is to occur. This stage can last for a long time. For some tissues, like the nervous system, the process can be so slow it is almost imperceptible. For such tissues, support therapies like hyperbaric can help. In joint,  muscle, bone, ligament, tendon, etc., proper motion and function dictate this process. You have to train the scar tissue to line up all in the same direction and act like and be in sync with the surrounding tissue. Only at this point will true healing occur.

***Photo by Luis Villasmil on Unsplash