When an injury appears a migration of different cells begins instantly and the complex healing mechanism begins in the exact moment it happens.

Saying 'complex' doesn't really do justice in conveying the intricately and coordinated degree of orchestration that happens between the many cells, organs and products of the defensive system, which do such a wonderful job of maintaining our biological, health-filled integrity.

Platelets and inflammatory cells are the first cells to migrate to the place of injury and they provide key actions and 'signals' needed for the arrival of connective tissue cells and a renovated blood supply. This stage is named inflammatory phase. The signs have been well known since ancient times: rubor (redness), tumor (swelling), calor (heat) and dolor (pain).

The presence of wound macrophages is a signal that the inflammatory stage is nearing an end and the proliferative stage is beginning. Lymphocytes (white blood cells that help the body and fight infection) come into the damaged area at a later stage.

As the Proliferative stage progresses the predominant cell in the damaged site is the fibroblast. These cells born in the mesoderm that creates the connective tissue of the body, blood vessels and lymph vessels, and is responsible for creating the new matrix necessary to restore structure and function of the injured tissue. Fibroblasts stick to the cables of the provisional fibrin matrix and begin to produce collagen.

Collagen is the most abundant protein in the animal kingdom, accounting for 30% of the total protein in the human body. In healthy tissues collagen ensures strength, stability and structure. Collagen is necessary to repair damage and restore anatomic structure and function. If too much collagen is deposited in the wound, normal anatomical structure is lost, function is compromised and fibrosis appears.

The collagen released into the extracellular space undergoes further modifications by opening of the procollagen N and C-terminal peptides. In the extra-cellular spaces a crucial enzyme, lysyl oxidase, acts on the collagen to form stable cross-links. As the collagen matures and turns older, more and more of these intramolecular and intermolecular cross-links are placed in the molecules. This important cross-linking step confers collagen its strength and stability over time. Any form of natural scar treatment helps aid and assist normal tissue renewal

In short, the healthy scar healing cascade begins with an orderly sequence of hemostasis and fibrin accumulation, which leads to an inflammatory cell cascade, characterized by neutrophils, macrophages and lymphocytes inside the tissue. This is followed by attraction and proliferation of fibroblasts and collagen accumulation, and finally remodeling by collagen cross-linking and scar maturation. Despite this organized sequence of events responsible for normal wound healing, pathologic responses leading to fibrosis or chronic ulcers may happen if any part of the healing sequence is altered.