Understanding Skin Repair

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
  1. Stimulate collagen production
  2. Tighten loose skin, improve elasticity
  3. Improve skin density and firmness
  4. Reduce fine lines and wrinkles
  5. Reduce sun damage and hyperpigmentation (scarring)
• Yeast beta-glycan
  1. Soothing; reduces redness
  2. Anti-oxidant & moisturizing properties
  3. Skin-firming properties
• Other ingredients
  1. Niacinamide – prevents hyperpigmentation (scaring)
  2. 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
  3. Many moisturizing agents – stimulate cell growth & proliferation