07/30/2026
This is based on human physiotherapy, but it is likely that healing timelines are similar in our dogs. So time, patience and great rehab are what’s needed for good healing!!
TISSUE HEALING
Great post by Dr. Stacie Barber | Physio + Strength + Mobility:
"🤕When an individual sustains an injury, one of the first questions asked is, “How long will it take until I am back to normal?” The difficult part of injuries is that there are certain components of them we are unable to control, such as our age, the type of tissue that was injured, blood supply to a specific tissue, and the extent of damage that was done.
🙌However, what we can control is enhancing our understanding of tissue healing, and how to optimize healing times by avoiding factors that could slow the normal healing process.
As our bodies go through the healing process we go through 3 key phases of recovery, here is a quick breakdown:
1️⃣ Inflammatory Phase (0-7 days): The body’s immediate response to injury: swelling, redness, & sometimes pain.
2️⃣ Proliferative Phase (7-21 days): New tissue begins to form. Movement & direct tissue loading is key during these next two phases.
3️⃣ Remodeling Phase (3 weeks to 12 months): The new tissue strengthens & matures. Gradual return to full activity is important to prevent re-injury. 🏋️♀️
‼️It’s important to note that different tissues heal at different rates! And more importantly, the severity of the injury also impacts the length of recovery. You’ll notice that the range of healing times is quite large! So please - respect that you may recover faster or slower than your friend with the “same injury”.
There are so many factors that go into recovery - but a good understand of tissue healing timelines is definitely the place to start for both clinicians & patients."
