Healing skin wounds is a complex process. The same is true for relationship wounds.
Civility, caring for other people, conflict management, self-control, integrity are constructive traits. I am disappointed and dismayed by the negativity in society right now. As we near our national election there is blame, ridicule, slander, questionable integrity, and division. Candidates and regular people on the streets are tearing each other apart. These wounds can be hard to heal. Consider what love, patience, and goodwill could do to aid healing in our society right now.
Healing skin wounds
Do you have any scars? The body’s primary defense mechanism and largest organ is the skin. Any breach in the skin’s integrity can allow bacteria and infection into the body, alter the body’s ability to regulate temperature and water storage, and it usually hurts. The skin is a very sensitive organ.
Any cut, tear, wound results in an influx of parts of the immune system to start healing the wound.
If the wound is small enough, the skin on either side of the cut can rejoin, sometimes without even a scar.
If the wound is larger, the gap is too big to allow the two sides of the skin to reattach. In that case, granulation tissue forms to fill the gap. New small blood vessels grow in to the area, fibrin ‘scaffolding forms’ and cells build in around the fibrin. Then, more small blood vessels are formed, more fibrin ‘scaffolding’ forms, and more cell fill in the area. This continues until the whole space is filled with granulation tissue. This appears as a scar. The space where the wound left a gap that was filled with granulation tissue is noticeable. That skin will not be or look the same. Granulation tissue contains fewer cells and blood vessels compared to normal skin.
Healing relationship wounds
This scar tissue is only 60-85% as strong as normal tissue. So although the body heals itself, it is not like the wound never happened. That is so true of our emotional scars as well. It’s too easy to let words fly when we’re angry. In a rage, your objective might be to win and tear the other person down. This might feel ‘good’ in the moment. But what happens later? What about the guilt and shame? What about the damage done to the relationship? Some things can’t be completely undone. But much healing CAN be done, and a 60-85% healed relationship is better than no relationship at all.
For more information about how the body heals itself or the health impacts of negativity, contact us at www.medsmash.com/contact.
Check out my personal blog for further application.
