For anyone who is physically active, soft tissue injuries (muscles, ligaments, tendons) go with the territory. I like to take an active approach to my recovery from injuries. As soon as I am able within the limits of pain I get back into my routine and retrain the muscles, ligaments and tendons to perform as they did before the injury. The longer you wait before commencing an aggressive approach to healing the longer will be your recovery time back to full functioning.
I have tried this most recently with a spate of calf muscle injuries. I tried the “rest” approach, sometimes up to 6 weeks, and I have tried the “aggressive” approach, where as soon as I am able to run without too much pain I get back into it, gradually increasing the time and speed with which I run. The aggressive approach has been much more successful in reducing recurrence.
The problem with the rest approach is that the muscle loses strength quite quickly, and the longer you rest the weaker it gets. The muscle will still repair and recover as long as you work within the limits of pain and gradually increase the training load during rehabilitation.

Are there any exceptions to this general advice? i.e. any soft tissue injuries where rest really is the way to go?

thanks,
mick

The basic idea is that total rest is necessary only up to the point where movement becomes possible. For severe soft tissue injuries with lots of swelling this rest period may be up to a week, but once movement becomes possible, within the limits of pain, it should be commenced. Muscles and ligaments will heal with rest but the unfortunate consequence of rest is muscle atrophy (weakening). For active people this is to be avoided. The muscle or ligament will still heal provided that movements are within the limits of pain.