Slide 1
Repair restores a boundary
A wound interrupts the skin’s protective barrier. Healing involves coordinated changes in blood vessels, immune cells and the tissue around the injury.
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Skin also contains sensory structures and helps regulate heat exchange. A deep injury can therefore affect functions beyond keeping the outside world separated from the body.
Slide 2
A temporary seal comes first
Clotting helps limit bleeding after blood vessels are damaged. The early seal provides a temporary structure while repair begins.
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White blood cells arrive to help remove microbes and damaged material. Redness and swelling can accompany this early response, but appearance alone does not identify the cause of a wound problem.
Slide 3
New tissue fills the gap
Repair cells build new supporting material, and small blood vessels grow into the healing area. Surface cells move to restore coverage.
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The depth and size of an injury affect how much tissue must be replaced. Closing the surface and recovering the deeper structure are related processes, but they are not identical milestones.
Slide 4
A scar keeps changing
After a wound closes, its supporting fibres continue to reorganize. A scar can change in appearance and strength during this later remodeling.
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Replacement tissue may not reproduce every feature of the original skin. Hair follicles and glands, for example, are not necessarily restored within a substantial scar.
Slide 5
Healing has conditions
Blood supply, infection and a person’s health influence repair. There is no single timetable that describes every wound.
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The stages overlap rather than operating like isolated steps on an assembly line. Clinicians consider the whole wound and its context when evaluating whether repair is progressing.
Sources
- How wounds heal
MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia
- Functions of the Integumentary System
OpenStax, Rice University