Everyone is familiar with wound healing but this common phenomenon has a number of very specific requirements before it can take place.
Everyone has experienced a wound of some sort. It may have been a cut from a kitchen knife or maybe a prick from a thorn. And which child has never grazed its knee?
So we are all familiar with the outward manifestations of healing. At first the wound bleeds and after a short while (hopefully) the blood stops. The area immediately around the wound is sore and slightly red. After a while a scab forms. This lasts for some days before falling off and underneath, almost miraculously, the skin has healed, sometimes leaving a scar.
Some wounds of course may require dressings or stitches to help them along but the mechanism of healing will be the same.
Mechanism of Healing
- Inflammation: this process ensures that the wound is free of micro-organisms and debris before the healing process starts. White blood cells called macrophages are essential for this. Inflammation is what causes the redness and soreness around a wound. When the wound area is clear, the inflammatory process is switched off and then repair can take place.
- Growth of new blood vessels: these bud off from the existing undamaged vessels and grow into the wound area - which is usually filled with a blood clot. Clearly, without oxygen and nutrients supplied by the blood, repair cannot take place hence new blood vessel growth is the first to be stimulated.
- Nerve growth: nerves regenerate and grow into the wound area
- Regeneration of connective tissue: this is the basic matrix of all body structures and its main constituent is collagen. Cells called fibroblasts move into the wound area and start laying down collagen to support other tissues.
- Regeneration of skin: the epithelial cells at the edges of the wound start to divide and grow towards each other and eventually join to form an intact layer of skin.
Requirements for Effective Wound Healing
A number of requirements must be satisfied before healing can occur. The first of these, as mentioned above, is for the inflammatory mechanism to be switched off. Inflammation involves the production of potent chemicals which destroy bacteria. Inevitably these will also tend to destroy the body's own cells so any repair work will be quickly undone whilst the inflammation is still going on.
A highly important prerequisite for healing is good nutrition. It's been known for many years that poorly nourished people heal badly. Healing requires all the main components of a good diet. Carbohydrates are needed to provide energy and support structures, proteins to build cells, fats are particularly important for regenerating nerves. Vitamins and trace elements, although only needed in minute quantities, are important in the many chemical reactions involved in tissue repair.
Vitamins A, C and E are particularly important for wound healing. Some studies have shown that zinc supplements have improved wound repair.
This article is information only. If you have any health concerns you should consult a health professional.
Resources
An Introduction to General Pathology. Spector and Axford. Pub. Churchill Livingstone
A Dictionary of Minerals by Leonard Mervyn. Pub. Thorsons
