Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy: Why Rest Can Slow Healing
A tour of how injured tissues heal and why movement, not rest, is so often the key to recovery from back pain to knee replacement.
Try 3 questions
1. Which phase of soft tissue healing comes first after an injury?
- Inflammation
- Proliferation
- Remodeling
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Answer: Inflammation
Inflammation starts within minutes to hours, clearing debris and releasing the signals that recruit repair cells.
2. Why is gentle, controlled loading encouraged during the remodeling phase of healing?
- It flushes out the remaining inflammatory cells
- It helps new collagen fibers align with stress
- It stops the body from making more collagen
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Answer: It helps new collagen fibers align with stress
Collagen laid down in a scar is disorganized; mechanical load guides the fibers to line up along the directions the tissue must resist.
3. Compared with the original tissue, how strong does a fully remodeled ligament scar usually become?
- Somewhat weaker than the original tissue
- Exactly as strong as the original tissue
- Clearly stronger than before the injury
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Answer: Somewhat weaker than the original tissue
Scar collagen never regains the original organization and composition, so its tensile strength usually plateaus below that of uninjured ligament.
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