The natural biological process that occurs in your body to heal a wound is as incredible as it is complex. Four precise phases—hemostasis, inflammation, proliferation, and remodeling—must occur in the proper sequence and with the correct timing for the wound to heal successfully. Unfortunately, many factors may interfere with this process, so impaired wound healing is common.[i]
During hemostasis, blood vessels are constricted and platelets aggregated to stop bleeding. The inflammatory stage follows, which includes an influx of inflammatory cells to fight off infections and release mediators and cytokines to trigger the formation of new blood vessels (angiogenesis), blood clotting, and reepithelialization (formation of new epithelium), which continues into the proliferative phase.[ii]
