How Your Body Heals
Understanding the 3 Phases of Recovery (and Why Most People Get Stuck)
If you’re dealing with pain or an injury, it can be frustrating to feel like you’re not healing fast enough — or worse, like you’re healing wrong. The truth is, recovery isn’t a straight line. But it is a process. One that your body is hardwired to follow — when it gets the right support.
At Logan Myotherapy, we don’t leave recovery to chance. We guide people through every stage of healing so they don’t just feel better — they stay better.
Let’s break it down.
Healing happens in three overlapping phases, and each phase is crucial for recovery. Here’s an easy-to-understand breakdown of these phases and how long they usually last:
🩹 The 3 Phases of Healing
Each phase overlaps with the next — and understanding where you are helps us decide what your body needs right now to move forward.
1. Inflammation Phase (Days 1–6)
This is your body’s natural alarm system — and it’s essential. You might see swelling, feel heat, or notice stiffness. That’s your body rushing immune cells to the scene to contain the damage and start repair.
Pain is part of the process, but it’s not the enemy. It’s a signal — not a stop sign.
What matters here is protection, support, and not doing too much too soon.
2. Proliferation Phase (Days 4–24)
Now your body starts to rebuild — laying down new tissue to replace what was damaged. But here’s the catch: early scar tissue is weak and disorganized. It’s like scaffolding — not the finished structure.
This is where most people either do too much (and re-injure the area) or do too little (and end up with stiffness or long-term dysfunction).
What’s needed here is the right amount of movement to encourage healing — not overload it.
3. Remodeling Phase (3 Weeks to 2+ Years)
This is the longest, most misunderstood phase — and the most important if you want to avoid re-injury. Here, your body strengthens and reorganises the new tissue so it can handle daily life, work, or sport.
Without the right rehab, the tissue never becomes durable.
But with progressive loading and smart treatment, you build back stronger — and more resilient than before.
💡 Why Timing and Guidance Matter
You’ve probably heard people say, “just rest and let it heal.”
Well, that only works for paper cuts — not real injuries.
Healing is influenced by:
- Type of tissue (muscle heals faster than ligament)
- Severity of injury
- Nutrition, hydration, sleep
- Age, stress, and overall health
- Lifestyle choices (yes, smoking and alcohol slow healing)
But here’s what matters most:
How and when you move during recovery determines the quality of your healing.
That’s where we come in.
🔧 We Don’t Leave Healing to Guesswork
- Hands-on treatment when it’s time to release tension and reduce pain
- Movement strategies to guide tissue remodeling
- Progressions that help you rebuild strength, confidence, and function
Our goal isn’t just short-term relief. It’s long-term recovery — without re-injury or therapy dependency.
👉 If you’re dealing with pain or stuck in the healing process, we can help. Book an appointment so you can get back to doing what you love.
