What are the skin particularities?

The skin is the body’s largest organ (up to 15% of its weight approximatively) forming a flexible membrane which covers its entire surface. It is a stable but flexible outer covering that acts as a barrier, protecting the body from harmful things in the outside world such as moisture, the cold and sun rays, as well as germs and toxic substances.
The skin is made of three different layers: the outer layer (epidermis), the middle layer (dermis) and the deepest layer (hypodermis) (1).

Regarding the depth, the origin, and the site, a wound can range from simple to life threatening. Wounds can be opened or closed, deep or superficial, clean or contaminated, acute or chronic, and each type of wound will need a specific management in order to heal correctly 2.

What is the wound healing process?

Regeneration and tissue repair processes are based on a sequence of molecular and cellular events occurring right after the beginning of a tissue lesion.

This sequence of events, called wound healing, can be divided into 4 stages (3):

• Hemostasis phase: process of the wound being closed by clotting.

• Inflammatory phase: controls bleeding and prevents infection.

• Proliferative phase: the wound is rebuilt with new tissue made up of collagen and extracellular matrix.

• Maturation phase: also called the remodeling stage, consisting of fully closing the wound. It begins about 21 days after an injury and can continue for a year or more.