How long does pain take to heal?

Healing runs in stages. For the first few days there is inflammation, the swelling and pain doing a job. Over the following weeks new tissue is laid down, which is why things feel better but stay fragile. Then comes remodelling, where that tissue gets organised and strong, and that runs for months, up to about a year for ligament and tendon.

The usual ranges. A mild muscle strain, one to three weeks. A moderate one, four to eight weeks. A mild ankle sprain, two to four weeks, a moderate one six to twelve. Most fractures unite in six to twelve weeks, faster in children, with full strength later. Tendon problems such as tennis elbow or Achilles pain need three to six months of loading work. Disc related sciatica usually improves by six weeks and settles within three months. Frozen shoulder is the slow one, one to three years through its phases.

Why pain outlasts the injury. Pain is produced by the nervous system, not read off the tissue like a gauge. When an area has been painful a long time the system becomes more sensitive, so ordinary movement is reported as painful even after the tissue has healed. Poor sleep, worry, avoiding movement and losing fitness all keep that going. Pain lasting more than three months is called persistent pain, and treatment then shifts from protecting tissue to rebuilding what you can do.

What changes the timeline. Faster: starting movement early, sleeping properly, eating enough protein, and not re-injuring it. Slower: diabetes, smoking, older age, being inactive, repeated flare-ups from going too hard too soon, and long periods of rest.

Pain that is getting steadily worse week after week rather than slowly better, pain that wakes you every night with unexplained weight loss, or pain with a fever, needs a doctor rather than more time.