What I like about being in the field of physiotherapy is that there are many trials of treatment going on out there that can quickly be replicated where great promise is demonstrated.
One such set of works that recently became apparent to me involve the clinical challenge that is tendon injury, bringing a strategy that the sufferer can easily apply at home with minimal cost and simple modifiability.
Tendons, if you aren't familiar, are part of muscle and they are the elastic attachments to bone that enable not only joint motion, but acceleration, velocity, bounce, shock absorption and stability of a joint.
Tendons are entirely different to the muscly tissue that drives them and so it is this variation that marks the difference in the recovery times and rehab needs.
Muscle tissue is richly supplied with blood, whereas tendon is not.
Good blood supply makes the world of difference for healing and so most muscle injuries progress quickly and the victim can return to real life in an acceptable timeframe.
Tendon, on the other hand, can be stubborn to resume normal behaviour, and can persist in pain for many months with rest and avoidance of offending activities.
It seems clear that tendon is akin to the child that needs much hand-holding and guidance, staying close to your leg as you attempt to deposit them at their educational institution, whereas muscle recovery is like the child who disappears at the gate first time, waving goodbye and never looking back.