Chronic wounds do not repair themselves as they fail to proceed through the normal wound repair process and lose the cascade effect of wound healing and closure. A healthy wound needs a moist environment and adequate delivery of nutrients and cellular sources of growth factors, cytokines and chemokines to heal itself naturally. Imbalances in the relative levels of growth factors, cytokines and chemokines contribute to chronic wounds. A wound that has not completely healed after 30 days requires an external agent to reignite the wound repair process.

External and internal patient factors can slow or stall the rate of wound healing.

Factors Affecting Wound Closure:
 

For additional information, contact the Wound Healing Society:
www.woundheal.org