We've all been in a situation where we've gotten some sort of muscle strain that puts us out of shape for a period of time. Chances are you've also asked yourself: how exactly do these damaged structures heal?
We at Okto will delve deeper into this topic and note the processes our body goes through to repair damaged muscle tissue.
To begin, let's start by noting what a muscle strain is. So a muscle strain is caused by damage to the muscle fibers that results from overstretching and tearing them causing pain ( manifested at rest or during movement), swelling, bruising is also possible ( depending on the severity of the injury), and inflammation of the affected tissues. All this leads to the impossibility of optimal use of the muscle concerned. This type of injury can occur in any part of the muscle - the muscle tendon, the muscle-tendon transition as well as the muscle belly.
So let's go back to the main question - what exactly happens during the recovery process ? Somewhere you may see only 3 phases noted, but we decided to go a little deeper and divide the recovery process into 4 phases, which are respectively:
It covers the period since the trauma occurred and its duration depends on what structure is affected. In vascular tissues (more richly supplied with blood), such as muscles, this phase will have a longer duration than in less richly supplied tissues, such as ligaments. In richly blooded tissues this process lasts about 4-6 hours unless there are complications present in some of the structures surrounding the injury.
This phase is interconnected with the first one we mentioned. The inflammatory process is inevitable in this type of injury and is an integral part of the healing process. The inflammation present is the main culprit for the presence of redness, swelling and warming of the affected area. The inflammatory process develops rapidly over a few hours and this development can last up to 3 days. After these days, the process reverses and the inflammatory symptoms decrease.
This is the phase during which tissue regeneration (repair) begins. Due to the body's natural regenerative processes during this phase, there is an accumulation of regenerative tissue at the site of injury, respectively for muscle tissue there is an accumulation of collagen. This process of collagen accumulation starts from about 24-48 hours after the injury and can last up to 3 weeks. This collagen forms the so-called primary cicatrix (scar), which, however, does not yet have the necessary strength.
The last phase starts when the previous phase is at its peak, i.e. when there is the greatest deposition of primary collagen (about 2-3 weeks after the trauma, but can be earlier). The last two phases overlap. Collagenous tissue is generally composed of collagenous fibers that orient themselves along the course of impact loading. This is why it is extremely important to carry out appropriate treatment during this period, so that good remodelling of the new tissue can be achieved (correct orientation of the collagen fibres to the applied load). This phase can vary in duration and may take months to achieve full remodelling. However, this does not mean that during these months, exercise should be avoided; on the contrary, there should be a progressive incorporation of different types of exercise until the previous physical shape is reached. At the end of this phase, a new tissue is produced that can perform the same functions as muscle tissue.
