What is skin injury?
- Occurs when any part of the epidermis is damaged
- Cut, tear (abrasion), acne, burn, scalding, (hot water),
- sunburn, surgery
- Skin injury is skin wound
How does a wound heal?
- Healing & repair is a critical part of self-protection in all
- living things
- Wound healing is skin healing
- A very complex process
- Begins immediately when injury happens
- May be fast or may take years
PROCESS OF WOUND HEALING
Happens in various stages :
1. Hemostasis – stop the bleeding
- Prevent blood loss
- Close the wound with a clot
- Platelets aggregate at injured site of blood vessel
- Fibrin clot is formed
- Wound is closed within about one minute
2. Inflammation – swelling
- Once the wound is closed, repair process begins
- Vasodilation – blood vessels enlarge, blood flow increases
- To the injured area
- Plasma, nutrients, growth factors, repair and healing cells
- Leak out through blood vessels wall into the injured area
- This causes swelling, redness, heat & pain
- Important signals to the body
- White blood cells remove dead tissues, bacteria
- Pain warns the body that this area is injured; limits activity
- Natural process that signals start of repair
- No good if excessive or becomes chronic
3. Proliferation – rapid tissue growth
- Growth factors brings about rapid growth of new
- Tissues (collagen & cell matrix)
- Network of new blood vessels formed so that new
- Tissues can receive proper nutrients for growth
- New epithelium covers the new tissues
4. Remodelling – “putting the house in order”
- Wound closes
- Repair cells, having done their work, die by themselves
- Collagen remodelled to become more organized and stronger & more elastic
- Process can take a few weeks to years
Excessive wound healing
- An abnormal process; not well understood
- Prolonged inflammation
- Excessive collagen formed, excessive matrix formed. e.g “keloid” and “hypertrophic scars”.
SQ-infinit⁺ Scar Repair ingredients
- Filtrate of snail mucus
- “Super” ingredient with moisturizing and wound healing properties
- Used extensively by Romans & Greeks; now by Korean in cosmetic products
- Copper binding peptides stimulate collagen production
- Stimulate collagen production
- Tighten loose skin, improve elasticity
- Improve skin density and firmness
- Reduce fine lines and wrinkles
- Reduce sun damage and hyperpigmentation (scarring)
- Yeast beta-glycan
- Soothing; reduces redness
- Anti-oxidant & moisturizing properties
- Skin-firming properties
- Other ingredients
- Niacinamide – prevents hyperpigmentation (scaring)
- Centella asiatica extract – rich in amino acids, beta carotene, fatty acids, and numerous potent phytochemicals. Calms inflammation, speed wound healing, stimulate new cell growth, build collagen, and improve circulation
- Many moisturizing agents – stimulate cell growth & proliferation
