Given that it seems that the energy bar itself is causing some bot issues. Why not convert the bar dircetly into a healing bar?
This would mean higher the bar (well for most of it) your characters body heals just fine. Normal wounds (ones that heal on there own) burn the bar the least, each curable wound burns more energy off the bar and so on. If this bar gets to low wounds have a chance to well get infected and leaving scares and so on.
Now how do you restore the bar? Bed rest is a good way, adds value to re add the beds into the game. Plus some food could also restore the bar a little (thinking ones that give con or are thought of as healing food).
Just a thought on how to possibly fix two things at once.