After a skeletal muscle is injured, the wound area undergoes a specific series of changes. Special body cells collect in the area and remove dead and dying tissue.

At the margins of the wound, the healthy striated muscle fibers dedifferentiate. If damaged tissue and foreign materials have been properly removed and if the edges of the live muscle tissue are closely fitted to each other, the regenerating muscle fibers will actually join and produce a whole muscle again.

If a great amount of muscle tissue is missing, a defect will remain in the muscle. Some physicians have developed the "minced muscle" technique, used to replace these defects.