Our bodies work in cycles. When conditions that occur are self limiting, i.e. they will go away on there own in there own time regardless of what you do, the time framework is typically either 3 days or 7 days. Examples of this are a cold, flu, a muscle pull, or joint pain. Another way of saying this is in self limiting conditions, if the body is able to heal itself, it will tend to do it in 3 or 7 days.
If you do have pain in your neuromusculoskeletal system, i.e. your neck, back, head, jaws, knees, ankes, shoulders, wrists, hands, feet, … I think you get the picture, try ice, heat, rest, over the counter meds, whatever agrees with you. If you do not feel substantially better in 3 days, you will need professional help to restore function to your neuromusculoskeletal system. The sooner you get the help, the less likely you are to experience residual pain or stiffness long after the region "should be" better by most standards. I offer this advice to all of my patients after I helped them through the crisis for which they came into my office. I prefer that someone receives periodic preventative care every 4-6 weeks in order to prevent crises, but not everyone is willing to take time out of their schedule for this.
As I mentioned earlier, colds and influenzas also fall into the 3 day or 7 day cycle. Interestingly enough even many incubation periods also follow this rule. So if you are exposed to someone who is coughing, you are feeling less than par, and you do not experience symptoms within 24 hours, don't be fooled. Keep taking that vitamin C or Echinacea for at least 3 days. It may take that long for the symptoms to appear.
