Wound - Know Stages Of It!

Healing of a wound refers to a process by which the tissues in the body or the skin are repaired after being damaged. Each of the body's system has a role to play in the wound healing process.

There are mainly 6 stages in the process which are complementary to each other for the complete healing process. These stages are as follows:

1. Hemostasis: Hemostasis refers to the process of stopping the bleeding from a wound. It is basically done by vasoconstriction in which the blood vessels contract to obstruct the blood flow through them.

2.  Inflammation: It refers to swelling around the area affected by the wound. It is a symptom or your body's way of telling you that you have suffered an injury. It also helps the body identify the area for regeneration of cells and begin the process of blood clotting.

3.  Proliferation and migration of cells: During the swelling process, several types of cells are released by the body which then move towards the affected area and further constrict the blood vessels. Also the movement of white blood cells to the injured region is important to prevent further infection.

4. Angiogenesis: After controlling the bleeding process, the body begins the regeneration process for the torn tissues. The mechanism of regeneration is referred to as angiogenesis. The mechanism involves replacing the broken or damaged blood vessels with new ones or by adding to the existing working portions of tissues.

5. Re-epithialisation: Once your body has started the process of growing veins again and the damaged ones have been replaced by new ones, the process of re-epithialisation begins. Re-epithialisation refers to the mechanism of replacing the damaged skin with newly formed skin tissue. It is done by producing cells called keratinocytes which are integral to the skin building process.

6. Synthesis: It is generally the last stage in the healing process. Certain proteins result in blood clots which do not allow further bleeding during the formation of the new skin tissue and veins. After the skin and blood vessels are formed the inflammation subsides. After a few days, the infected or damaged cells and tissues peel off naturally and the area of the wound becomes covered with new skin.