Nutrition & Wound Healing

Nutrition & Healing
Nutrition & Healing
Nutrition & Healing

Wound healing: 3 stages, key barriers, & important nutrients

Wound healing happens in stages

When there is a wound or break in the skin, including those caused by injury or surgery, the blood clots to prevent the body from losing too much blood. Wounds heal in 3 stages, beginning after the blood clots: The inflammatory stage, the proliferative stage, and the remodeling stage.If any of the stages are interrupted, the healing process can slow down or even stop altogether.

 

Key stages in wound healing1:

 

  • Inflammatory—starts when a wound appears and can last 7 days or longer

  • Proliferative—may overlap with the inflammatory stage and is the beginning of the healing phase; can last from 4 days to more than 3 weeks

  • Remodeling—scar tissue forms, gradually becoming stronger and more flexible, and stage can last up to a year (often hard to see with the naked eye)

Keep the wound clean

Some of the barriers to wound healing include:

 
  • Infection
  • Continued bleeding
  • Damage due to friction or constant pressure
  • Medical issues such as diabetes, anemia, and some vascular diseases
  • Some medications
  • Dry or dead skin
  • Diet
  • Smoking
  • Age

 

Nutrition and healing: A vital link

 

A proper diet is essential for tissue building for all stages of wound healing.2 But sometimes even a balanced diet isn’t enough. That’s why your health care provider may recommend Juven®. Juven is targeted nutrition therapy that helps the body build new tissue by replenishing essential nutrients, including the amino acids arginine and glutamine, and collagen. With 2 servings per day, Juven has been clinically shown to support wound healing.3-6

 

Use Juven under medical supervision in addition to a complete, balanced diet.

References: 1. Broughten G, et al. Plast Reconstr Surg. 2006;117(7S):12S-34S. 2. Stechmiller JK. Nutr Clin Pract. 2010;25(1):61-68. 3. Jones MS, et al. Surg Infect (Larchmt). 2014;15(6):708-712. 4. Williams JZ, et al. Ann Surg. 2002;236(3):369-375. 5. Armstrong DG, et al. Diabet Med. 2014;31(9):1069-1077. 6. Wong A, et al. J Wound Care. 2014;23(5):259-269.