HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE TO HEAL?

MUSCLE

Muscles have good blood supply, making healing times faster than other soft tissues. Gr1 tear: 1 -3 weeks. Gr2 tear: a significant portion of fibres have been torn. 4 - 12 weeks. Gr 3: Total rupture. An MRI may be needed. 3 - 6 months.

TENDON

Tendons are tissue structures that connect muscles to bone. The same as muscles, tendon injuries range from: gr1 tendinopathy: 2 - 12 weeks. gr2 tendinosis: 3 - 6 months. Tendinosis symptoms include bouts of pain, which come and go. The healing time can be drastically reduced by completing a physiotherapy guided rehabilitation program. gr 3: tendon rupture can take 3 months to a year to recover. As physiotherapists we can assess and diagnosis tendon ruptures. Unlike muscle tears, tendon ruptures require pesonalised care.

LIGAMENT TEAR

Gr 1 tear: 3 - 6 weeks. E.g. if you 'tweak your ankle', and it is slightly swollen, but you still have full range of movement and can walk normally. Gr 2 tear: 4 - 6 weeks. In certain instances, this requires surgery, therefore working with an experienced physiotherapist is ideal. Gr 3 tear: 6 - 9 months. Depending on the ligament surgery may be required, a graded physiotherapy rehab program is needed to prevent disability.

CARTILAGE

Healing times are 3 months to 2 years. This is because carlilage has poor blood supply. EG. a herniated disc reabsorbs and resolves itself, but this can take months. So if cartilage takes so long to heal, what should you do? Strengthen the muscles around the cartilage to take more weight through the tone of the muscles.