No really!! I cut my thumb very badly!!! We’ve probably all cut something at one time or another, maybe not so bad, or maybe so. Maybe you’ve got just a little paper cut or a slight surface scratch or maybe you’ve cut yourself pretty deeply while you were out playing or by a bad fall. Either way, I’m sorry that you got hurt but rest assured, you won’t stay that way because your body is AMAZING and it has the incredible ability to heal from all sorts of cuts and injuries. In the case of cuts, that amazing ability is called into action within seconds of you hurting yourself. When your skin is cut, scraped, or injured in any way, damaged blood vessels immediately send out a signal to special blood cells called platelets. (This alone is pretty amazing!!!) Then it’s first things first. Your body wants to ensure you lose as little blood as possible and that nothing dangerous from outside gets inside your body. Your blood vessels tighten up and get narrower to slow down the blood flow. (That’s really smart). At the same time platelets race to the damaged area and clump together to form a clot. This not only stops the bleeding to prevent further blood loss but also serves as a plug to close off the wound from the outside world. These clots later dry up and turn into scabs. Once the clots are formed, and typically within a few hours, your blood vessels open a bit wider to allow oxygen-rich red blood cells and nutrients needed for healing to bathe the wound. This can be seen by redness around the wound. At the same time, white blood cells also arrive on the scene to help prevent or fight infection. White blood cells eat up bacteria and damaged tissue in the area and also produce certain growth factors necessary to start repair. (Simply brilliant!!!) After a day or two, a new phase of healing begins during which special cells, called fibroblasts, begin building new tissue. Fibroblasts produce a protein, called collagen, which forms new connective skin tissue. At the same time, the outer layer of skin contracts to help close the wound. With time, the new tissue strengthens and within three months the new tissue may be very nearly as strong as it was before. With bigger cuts, there may be a scar from the newly formed tissue, but with smaller cuts, the repair may be so well done you can’t even tell where the cut was!! (So incredible!!!) All of this is the normal healthy process of your body and is often done without any help on your behalf. How does your body know how to do that? Well, you have an intelligence within you that you are born with. We all do. And that wisdom not only creates our bodies but maintains it in an organized fashion for our whole lives. It uses your nerve system to communicate and coordinate. Chiropractors check to make sure that your inborn wisdom is expressed as fully as possible. They do that by making sure that the bones of your spine aren’t disrupting the function of your nerve system. The clearer your nerve system, the better the communication and the better you can be the AMAZING person you are!!! —By Judy Nutz Campanale, DC, ACP
