subject: The Process And Phases Of Wound Healing [print this page] Wound healing or wound repair is a complicated process the skin goes through after injury. In healthy skin, the two outer layers of skin, the epidermis and dermis, function as a protective barrier against the external environment. When this barrier is ruptured, the wound healing process is at once set in motion. This process is seen as a sum of three phases.
Inflammatory - First Phase of Wound Healing
Immediately after injury at the site of the wound, a complex process begins to take place to repair damage. Within the first moments, the site of the wound fills with platelets that develop a clot. Platelets are the result of blood in contact with collagen. Platelets are able to stick to one another forming a mass. This clot serves to control bleeding and prevent further blood loss.
In the inflammatory phase, there is a removal of bacteria and other foreign debris. The secretion of proteases naturally cleanses the wound as they break down damaged tissue. The skin also releases free radicals in order to kill the bacteria. There also start the processes and triggers that begin the action of the next proliferative phase.
Proliferative - Second Phase of Wound Healing
This second phase begins about two or three days after the injury. During this phase we see antiogenesis, collagen accumulation, tissue formation, and wound contraction. Angiogenesis is a process by which epithelial cells develop new blood vessels. Fibroblasts begin to appear at the site of the wound about two to five days after injury. New tissue is formed by fibroblasts, collagen and fibronectin which form an extra-cellular matrix. Fibroblasts lay down collagen to strengthen the wound. At the same time, the epithelial cells in the epidermis spread over the wound to cover and protect the newly growing skin tissue. Wound contraction is the process in which the wound begins to shrink due to the work of myofibroblasts. These myofibroblasts bind to the edges of the wound and contract themselves using a biological method similar to that of smooth muscle cells.
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