Jess and I were lucky enough to have the second installment of our wedding last weekend – a reception after three months of marriage! We had an absolute blast and couldn’t have been more privileged to spend it with our incredible family and friends. There were some seriously sore legs and feet (and maybe heads, but we don’t need to talk about that) the following day after three hours straight of dancing. Even physios get sore after something like that!

There have been so many new and exciting things that have happened between wedding part one and wedding part two-three months is quite a long time. Our vegetable garden has gone from seedlings to fully grown plants producing copious amounts of silverbeet, spinach, lettuce, tomatoes, strawberries, sage and heaps more. It’s awesome to watch the garden grow every day and be able to eat food you’ve grown yourself. The lawn has gone from dormant to growing before our eyes, those pesky weeds are thriving and the weather can now be classified as “hot”.

Our bodies, too, can undergo massive changes over the course of three months – let me paint a picture a lot of you will be familiar with: You’ve rolled your ankle while traversing uneven ground in the backyard or on a bushwalk. You may have heard a little pop, and your ankle begins to feel hot as the swelling begins to pool in the area. This is the first stage of a three-month process of healing – the inflammatory stage. This stage is characterised by a large collection of inflammatory molecules and neurotransmitters (AKA “inflammatory soup”) flooding the area to spark the healing process in your ankle. This is a painful time and it is going to last for anywhere between two and four weeks. By this stage, you’ve already called Physique and we’ve worked to reduce your symptoms to get you through this period.

Six weeks down the track now, the inflammatory process has finished up and done its job. During the initial stages of healing, your body has produced brand new tissue to repair the damage. This new tissue is frail and requires time to strengthen, increase in density and form blood vessels to help nourish it. This is the proliferative or restorative stage of healing – your pain is considerably less (sometimes even gone) however the underlying tissue healing is still very much an active process. Your physiotherapist by now has given you a fantastic exercise regime to help strengthen these new tissues to optimise this process.

It’s now three months since you sprained your ankle. The brand-new collagen in your ankle ligaments is now mature, strong, and durable because you have been committed to ruthlessly completing your exercises every day as guided by your expert physio. Your body has undergone an extraordinary process that we often take for granted and assume takes just a few weeks.

Three months is a long time – we can take a garden from seedling to salad, swap the jumpers for t-shirts and even have two weddings! Our bodies are extraordinary but even then we still need a little time to fully heal.