Woundscape

Built on Stanford AI & Longevity Lab · Module 1, Week 3 + peer-reviewed research

How skin
rebuilds itself.

Choose a wound, tell us your age and what else is going on. Watch the four phases of repair — seal, defend, rebuild, strengthen — stretch and shift for you, with care steps and red flags drawn from clinical guidance.

Not medical advice. For emergencies call your local emergency number (112 in the EU, 999 UK, 911 US).

01 What happened?

Wound type

02

03 Anything else? optional

Optional factors that can slow healing

04 Your healing map

Personalised wound-healing timeline Four overlapping phases plotted on a logarithmic time axis from one minute to one year.

Care steps

    Do & don't

    Do

      Don't

        Red flags — get medical help

        For this wound

          Signs of infection (any wound)

          • Spreading redness, warmth, swelling or increasing pain
          • Pus, drainage or a bad smell
          • Red streaks spreading from the wound (on brown or Black skin they may look purplish-grey or darker)
          • Fever, or feeling hot, cold and shivery

          Sources: Mayo Clinic, NHS

          Not healing?

          Most wounds heal in 4–6 weeks; one that fails to heal in that time is considered chronic and needs assessment. Leg sores lasting more than 2 weeks should be checked.

          Sources: StatPearls, NHS

          Tetanus check (CDC)

          What can slow healing

          Fuel for repair

          • ProteinDeficiency impairs new capillaries, fibroblast proliferation and collagen synthesis. For adults with pressure injuries who are malnourished or at risk: 1.25–1.5 g/kg/day protein and 30–35 kcal/kg/day.
          • Vitamin CNeeded to build collagen; deficiency lowers collagen synthesis and increases infection risk.
          • ZincCo-factor for DNA and RNA polymerases — deficiency significantly impairs healing.
          • Iron, vitamin A, copperIron is needed for collagen hydroxylation; vitamin A supports fibroblasts and collagen; copper helps collagen cross-linking.
          • Hydration & energyGlucose is the main fuel for the energy-hungry rebuild — and spares protein from being burned.

          Supplements fix deficiencies; evidence that extra doses speed healing in well-nourished people is limited. Ask a clinician or dietitian.

          Sources: Guo & DiPietro 2010, NPIAP/EPUAP 2019

          Scar care

          1. Moist, not crusty. Petroleum jelly keeps the wound from drying into a scab — scabbed wounds take longer to heal. Moist occlusion roughly doubled early re-epithelialization in Winter's classic 1962 study (pig skin).
          2. Silicone once closed. Silicone sheets or gel are first-line for preventing hypertrophic scars. Start after the wound has fully re-epithelialized; consensus advises wear for at least 12 h/day for at least 1 month (often 3–6).
          3. Sun protection. Broad-spectrum SPF 30+ on healed skin may reduce red or brown discoloration and help the scar fade.
          4. Patience. Remodeling runs up to about a year; a scar keeps changing long after it "looks healed".

          Sources: AAD, Winter 1962, Gold et al. 2014, StatPearls

          05 From the lecture

          Key ideas from “The Science of Recovery and Regeneration” — Artem Trotsyuk, PhD (Stanford), Lecture 3 · Stanford AI & Longevity Lab, Module 1 Week 3.

          06 Sources

            Medical disclaimer

            Woundscape is an educational tool, not a diagnosis or treatment plan. Timelines are typical ranges from the literature; the visual stretching for age and risk factors is illustrative — research shows the direction of the effect, not a precise multiplier for any individual. Always follow advice from your doctor, nurse or pharmacist. Seek urgent care for heavy bleeding, deep, large or contaminated wounds, burns to the face or genitals, chemical or electrical burns, any wound with signs of spreading infection, and any foot wound if you have diabetes.