The Healing Process PDF

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Process in Healing...

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The Healing Process Before healing begins, the body gears up to protect against infection. For the first few days, a wound may be swollen, red, and painful. This inflammation is a sign of the body's immune system kicking in to protect the wound from infection. Keep your wound clean and dry at all times to help the healing process. As the body does its healing work on the inside, a dry, temporary crust — a scab — forms over the wound on the outside. The scab's job is to protect the wound as the damaged skin heals underneath. Under the scab's protective surface, new tissue forms. The body repairs damaged blood vessels and the skin makes collagen (a kind of tough, white protein fiber) to reconnect the broken tissue. When the work of healing is done, the scab dries up and falls off, leaving behind the repaired skin and, often, a scar. At this point, the scar will be almost 80–90% the strength of normal skin. It'll take a few months for the scar to be back to 100% strength of normal skin. Why do scars look different from normal skin? Our skin is made up of two proteins: elastin, which gives skin its flexibility, and collagen, which gives it strength. But because the body cannot create new elastin, scars are made entirely of collagen. So they're tougher and less flexible than the skin around them....