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How Skin Wounds Heal

Healing of a skin wound in mammals is a mixture of regeneration (creation of the same cell types as originally damaged) and replacement (substitution of a new cell type for an old one). Scarring is the result of replacement, so the more regeneration that occurs, the less scarring will be left behind after the wound heals. Wound healing typically follows a fairly typical time line in mammals, though the presence of pathogens can lengthen the recovery. (Hackam and Ford, 2003).

Generally, within a few minutes of the initial damage to the tissue, which almost always results in trauma to blood vessels, a plug of platelets and other blood products (a blood clot) forms at the site of the tissue damage and stops further loss of blood. Within hours of receiving the wound, debris-eating white blood cells called neutrophils have invaded the area damaged, signaling the start of the inflammation response. Inflammation is a series of events that includes increased blood flow, increased blood vessel permeability, activation of pain receptors and intense consumption of cell debris and bacteria by neutrophils and other white blood cells. Neutrophils ingest introduced bacteria and dead and dying cells in the wound, and are themselves killed in the process. The accumulation of dead neutrophils and fluid forms pus. Typically within a few days, the surface of the clot has dried to form a scab. Now macrophages (another type of specialized white blood cells) infiltrate the wound, where they ingest dead neutrophils and other cellular debris.

Within a week after the wound occurs, tough, fibrous cells called fibroblasts move in from surrounding connective tissue and start to multiply at the wound site. The fibroblasts begin to secrete collagen fibers. At the same time, new epidermis begins to regenerate. New endothelial cells from neighboring undamaged tissue begin to form new capillaries that grow into the repairing wound site to supply blood to the newly forming epidermis.

Within a few weeks, the rapidly dividing epidermis completely lines the original wound site. The fibroblasts generate new connective tissue (scar tissues), which replaces the epidermis destroyed by the wound. Scar tissue persists after the healing of particularly severe wounds. The rapidity and effectiveness of skin wound repair depends on several factors (Burns et al., 2003):

Background: Emu Oil in Healthcare

Agricultural, cosmetic, veterinary and medical uses of emu-based products has soared in the last decade. University laboratory testing has proven TopicAid® to have anti-microbial, bactericidal, antiseptic, and antifungal properties. TopicAid®, patented in 2002, is being used extensively in a variety of professional and veterinary settings with superior results in promoting wound healing and the reduction of scarring.

A growing appreciation of the superior nutritional characteristics of emu meat (Fukushima et al., 1999; Daniel et al., 2000; Beckerbauker, 2001) has led to a considerable increase in the number of emus raised in both the US and abroad (especially Australia, where the emu is indigenous). Associated with the rising popularity of emu meat as a food product is an increase in the production of commercial and fully refined oil rendered from the copious amounts of subcutaneous fat in the processed bird. Emu oil based cosmetic and health products, which have burgeoned in recent years, derive their popularity from the numerous positive properties of emu oil. These include scientifically supported descriptions of cosmetic applications as a skin moisturizer (Zemtsov, 1996) and skin restorer. (Snowden et al., 1997; Politis and Dmytrowich, 1998; Lopez et al., 1999). The Emu Oil Institute additionally provides anecdotal reports on their web site (www.emu-oil.com) of emu oil’s benefits in symptomatic relief and treatment of a variety of skin ailments, including eczema, psoriasis, rosacea, ichthyosis, alopecia areata, as well as other skin and superficial diseases that can be treated with anti-inflammatory substances.