How Wounds Heal

When you get a cut or scrape, your body starts fixing it right away. Healing happens in stages. First your body stops the bleeding. Then it fights off germs. Next it builds new tissue. Finally, the skin closes up. Your body is an amazing repair machine.

Stopping the Bleeding

When you get a cut, blood vessels near the wound tighten to slow the bleeding. Tiny cell fragments in your blood called platelets rush to the cut. They stick together and form a plug. Then special proteins in your blood create a mesh called fibrin. This mesh traps more platelets and forms a clot. The clot dries into a scab.

Rebuilding and Healing

Under the scab, your body is busy rebuilding. White blood cells arrive to fight germs and clean up damaged cells. Then your body grows new blood vessels and tissue to fill the wound. Skin cells multiply and spread across the wound from the edges. Eventually the scab falls off and new skin is underneath.

Fun Facts

• A small cut can form a blood clot in just one to two minutes.
• Your skin completely replaces itself about every 27 days.
• Children heal faster than adults because their cells divide more quickly.

Did You Know?

The liver is the only internal organ that can regrow itself. If up to 75 percent of the liver is removed, it can grow back to its full size in just a few months!