The classical four stages of injury recovery for muscles, tendons and ligaments are:
Stage 1 – Acute
Stage 2 – Post Acute
Stage 3 – Chronic
Stage 4 – Post Chronic
Stage 1 – Acute
Timeframe: Begins immediately after the injury and extends up to 7 days after the incident. The timeframe for minor injuries is 1-3 days.
Goals: A quick response will relieve pain and prevent the injury from going into the deeper layers of fascia.
Cool the injury (without using ice) and increase circulation. Reduce swelling, reduce inflammation and heat, stimulate circulation to restore homeostasis to the cells.
Protocol Choices – Cooling Herbal Liniment (Cool Brace), Clay Poultice (Die Da Gao, Cooling Herbal Poultice), Microcurrent (Microlief®).
Stage 2 – Post Acute
Timeframe: Generally begins 4-7 days after the incident and may extend up to 3 weeks after the incident.
Characteristics: Much of the heat, swelling and pain are gone. Now there may be stiffness and muscle spasms in the area.
Goals: Support the body’s healing process. Relieve any muscle/tendon stiffness and spasms.
Protocol Choices – Herbal Salves or Herbal Oils (Muscle Salve, Soft Tissue Massage Oil, Joint Bone Sinew Massage Oil), Warming Liniment (Tendon Liniment), Light Massage and Electro-Acupressure.
Indications for using Soft Tissue Massage Oil: When the injury is to deeper layers of muscle or if the tendons and ligaments are tight. Soft Tissue Massage Oil is designed to loosen tendons and ligaments.
Indications for using Joint Bone Sinew Massage Oil: When there is deep bone bruising, or bone fracture healing, or over stretched ligaments, or loose joints. Joint Bone Sinew Massage Oil is designed to tighten tendons and ligaments.
Stage 3 – Chronic
Timeframe: Generally 21 days after the incident.
Characteristics: This is the point of reconstruction where the body is remodeling scar tissue based upon the stress caused by the injury. The length of time required for the reconstruction depends upon the degree of severity of the injury.
Goals: Minimize the amount of scar tissue and restore/maintain full functionality of the muscles, tendons and ligaments and restore/maintain full range of motion of the joints.
Protocol Choices – Herbal Salves or Herbal Oils (Muscle Salve, Soft Tissue Massage Oil, Joint Bone Sinew Oil), Warming Liniment (Tendon Liniment), Sports Massage, Electro-Acupressure, Warm Moist Herbal Compress, Heating Pad, Active Isolated Stretching.
Indications for using Soft Tissue Massage Oil: When the injury is to deeper layers of muscle or if the tendons and ligaments are tight. Soft Tissue Massage Oil is designed to loosen tendons and ligaments.
Indications for using Joint Bone Sinew Massage Oil: If there is deep bone bruising, or bone fracture healing, or over stretched ligaments, or loose joints. Joint Bone Sinew Massage Oil is designed to tighten tendons and ligaments.
Stage 4 – Post Chronic
Timeframe: Generally 21 days after the incident.
Characteristics: This is the final stage of healing.
Goals: To insure full recovery and prevent any long term health problems.
Protocol Choices – Resolve any remaining stasis using herbal heat, Moxibustion. Moxibustion dredges the body’s energy channels and clears away stagnation. Performing Moxibustion will prevent the injury from becoming lodged in the energy channels.
If Moxibustion is NOT performed, the free flow of the body’s natural bioelectric current (Qi, Prana) may be impeded and cause long term health problems that leach the body’s vital energy.