The effectiveness of the rehabilitation program after injury
(Figure 1) or surgery often determines the success of future
function and athletic performance.1 An understanding of the
body’s response to injury is paramount to designing a rehabilitation
approach. Ligamentous and soft tissue injury results
in biochemical changes similar to those seen after an injury.2
Injury results in bleeding and damage to tissue, which produces
pain. After the initial insult, the inflammatory response
is initiated, followed by the proliferative phase and the maturation
phase3 (Figure 2).
Stress to collagen fibers