When an injury occurs a movement of different cells begins immediately and the complex healing process begins in the exact moment it happens.

When we say 'complex' we don't do justice in conveying the intricately and coordinated level of orchestration that happens between the many cells, organs and products of the immune system, which do such a wonderful job of keeping our natural, health-filled integrity.

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

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

As the Proliferative phase progresses the predominant cell in the wound site is the fibroblast. These cells originate in the mesoderm that gives rise to 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 normal tissues collagen provides firmness, 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 altered and fibrosis occurs.

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

In summary, the normal scar healing cascade begins with an orderly process of hemostasis and fibrin accumulation, which leads to an inflammatory cell cascade, characterized by neutrophils, macrophages and lymphocytes within the tissue. This is followed by migration and proliferation of fibroblasts and collagen accumulation, and finally remodeling by collagen cross-linking and scar establishment. Despite this orderly sequence of steps responsible for normal scar healing, pathologic reactions leading to fibrosis or chronic ulcers can occur if any part of the healing sequence is altered.