Soft tissue injury is a major cause of physical debilitation for a lot of people. One of the main reasons for this is re-injury, injuring the same area before it has fully healed. Knowing how to heal injuries completely, can help you avoid a long healing process. Back pain issues apply to this category, but there are many other areas where this can also be an issue.
Re-injury
Over the years I’ve treated many different types of soft tissue injuries. The main things are sports injuries and trauma from accidents. But, the biggest problem, the worst type of injury is a secondary injuries, an injury to an area that is currently injured itself.
Even a simple sprain can turn into something that can take from months to a year or more to heal when if area is injured again. This is very simple to avoid, perhaps this warning will be enough to help someone avoid a long term, and expensive, healing process.
It’s tough for some people that are really into sports, but the first thing is to stop what you were doing that caused the injury in the first place. A healthy human body loves physical activity, so stopping is not always easy to do, but it is necessary.
Treatment
There are specific common treatments, but they can sometimes be confusing. For example, most people know that applying hot and/or cold to soft tissue injuries is something that will help, but when do you use hot and when cold? A simple guideline is to use cold when the pain is sharp, like right after it happens. An ice pack works wonders in helping to prevent swelling, and relieve pain. After a few days, when the pain is dull heat can be applied.
Another to work with hot and cold is to alternate them. Ice the area until it is good and cold, then apply heat. When practical, immersion in hot water works the best, but a heating pad or hot water bottle can be used. This expands and contracts the blood vesicles which help the stagnant blood and lymph move through.
Another treatment that has been used for centuries is arnica. Arnica is an herb that has long been used as a treatment for strains, sprains and bruises. It comes in different forms, an arnica cream is one of the most affective ones for soft tissue injuries.
In years past it was thought that immobilizing an injured limb was the best thing for certain types of soft tissue injuries. However, movement is now widely practiced. There is one stretching technique that can heal a spain in just a few days. Movement keeps blood moving through an injured area which keeps the flow nutrients and healing factors coming in.
Conclusion
With a little care, many soft tissue injury can be completely healed in a few days to a few weeks. Be careful though, just because an injury feels better doesn’t mean that it is fully healed, so give it an extra week or two. You can use that time to slowly build up strength in the area to help prevent future injuries which could take a lot longer to heal.
Your information is great. I just reinjured my lower back. Wow! what pain. I didn’t get any relief until I purchase a cold pack made of strong plastic wrapped it in a corrset type and rested a bit. Adding the heat was also good. my doc. told me only ice he did not give me an additional information about the heat and it’s benefits
Thansk Again
Glad the info was helpful for you, Erdine. I hope your back is better soon.
Kalidasa
I fell down some basement stairs in June of 2011 and experienced a pain I had never felt before. Exrays showed no broken ribs or bones. The doctor never mentioned soft tissue injury. I went to a specialist (sports injury) and he sent me to therapy for 6 weeks. Well, I still hurt. Will this ever heal? I have not tried the hot and cold theory….but I do exercise at a fitness center daily. (I am 66)
@JUdy Rogers That’s a long time for an injury to not heal. I do believe that anything, short of damage, can heal. If it’s the rib area then you may need an adjustment. Self Adjusting Technique offers a couple of ways to do that, one has a friend do a gentle adjustment method on you. That’s the first thing I would check, then I would check for trigger points.
I fell on ice and fractured my cheek bone. There is now a dent in the soft tissue running down my cheek. Is there anything that can help to heal the dent naturally?
@dannette That is a little out of my area though there is one thing I might suggest. Acupuncture is great for getting rid of lines and wrinkles, it might be helpful for something like that. It probably depends on how bad it is.
I had a blunt tramma to the left side of my body, ended up with internal brusing which healed within a month, but after 6 months I still have pain at the bottom of my left side ribs, I had X rays with no breaks. I went back to work after 3 months. Do you know how long it will take to heal fully.
@kitkat Not sure without a session, but the ribs could be out of alignment. Very simple to fix with an assisted adjustment that is still included with Self Adjusting Technique, or you could consult a chiropractor. I might be able to help you with a phone healing session, no charge if not.