"...you injure something...it just stays hurting..." Longer, but it does heal. Your relative fitness level matters too though.
"...how long did it take..." Torn tendon in my shoulder took a year to go away, but every now and again it still hurts. And that's with no surgery. Surgery alone takes about 3 months to get over.
I suspect that it might help if you load 240's to .44 Special velocities for a while. Cast might be best.