These conditions can cause poor wound healing:Ī chronic wound heals very slowly or not at all. Some health conditions may lead to poor blood circulation. Elderly adults may have slower healing wounds. There are several reasons why a wound may not heal properly. Risk factorsĪlmost 6.5 million people in the United States have wounds that don’t heal well. A wound can take twice as long to heal, or not heal at all, if it doesn’t get enough blood. This can happen even if your cut is due to surgery or a medical procedure.īlood supply is one of the most important factors in wound healing.īlood carries oxygen, nutrients, and everything else your body needs to heal the wound site. Some health conditions can cause very slow healing or stop wound healing. According to the Cleveland Clinic, wounds need moisture to heal. Wounds may also heal faster or better if you keep them covered. Surgery cuts normally take 6 to 8 weeks to heal, according to St. This is why surgical wounds typically heal faster than other kinds of wounds. This helps to make the area your body has to rebuild smaller. The new skin and tissue is about 80 percent as strong as it was before it was injured, per the University of Rochester Medical Center.Ī large or deep cut will heal faster if your healthcare provider sutures it. An open wound may take longer to heal than a closed wound.Īccording to Johns Hopkins Medicine, after about 3 months, most wounds are repaired. It may take up to a few years to completely heal. How long it takes to heal a wound depends on how large or deep the cut is. How long does it take for a wound to heal? Your body continues to repair and strengthen the area. You may feel itching or tightness over the area. It might look pink and stretched or puckered. Stage 4: Maturation (strengthening)Įven after your wound looks closed and repaired, it’s still healing. The scar will slowly fade in color and look flatter. Collagen is like a scaffold that other cells can be built on.Īt this stage in healing, you might see a fresh, raised, red scar. This helps to repair the skin and tissues in the wound. It’s like a construction site, except your body makes its own building materials.Ĭhemical signals in the body tell cells around the wound to make elastic tissues called collagen. Oxygen-rich red blood cells come to the site to create new tissue. Once the wound is clean and stable, your body can begin rebuilding the site. Stage 3: Rebuilding (growth and proliferative) This means white blood cells are at work defending and rebuilding. You might see clear fluid in or around the wound. They also send out chemical messengers called growth factors that help repair the area. Macrophages help clean the wound by fighting any infection. White blood cells, called macrophages, arrive on the scene of the wound. This means help has arrived.įresh blood brings more oxygen and nutrients to the wound - just the right balance to help it heal. This might make the area look inflamed, or a little red and swollen. Once your wound isn’t bleeding any more, the body can begin cleaning and healing it.įirst, the blood vessels around the wound open a bit to allow more blood flow to it. Inflammation, which involves cleaning and healing.It’s “blood glue” that makes a net to hold the platelet plug in place. Clotting or coagulation includes a protein called fibrin.Platelets, which are the clotting cells in blood, clump together to make a “plug” in the wound.Blood vessels around the wound narrow.Stage 2: Scabbing over (clotting)Ĭlotting and scabbing phase has three main steps: ![]() Clotting also helps to close and heal the wound, making a scab. This is the good kind of blood clot that helps to prevent too much blood loss. ![]() This is called hemostasis.īlood begins to clot seconds to minutes after you get a wound. The first stage of wound healing is to stop the bleeding. When you get a cut, scratch, or other wound in your skin, it usually starts bleeding. ![]() Keeping the wound clean and covered can help your body repair the area. ![]() Your body heals a wound in four main stages.
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