Understanding Fibrosis
When Healing Goes Too Far
Wound healing is supposed to follow a specific sequence: inflammation, proliferation (building new tissue), and remodeling (organizing that tissue into something functional). But sometimes this process doesn't know when to stop. Your body keeps producing fibroblasts - the cells that make collagen - long after the wound is sealed.
The result is excessive collagen deposition. In normal scars, collagen fibers are organized in a parallel pattern that moves with your skin. In hypertrophic scars and keloids, they're tangled and excessive - creating raised, thick, sometimes itchy and painful growths. Keloids actually extend beyond the original wound boundaries, which makes them particularly disfiguring.
Risk factors include genetics, skin type (darker skin tones have 15x higher keloid risk), age, location on the body, and the nature of the initial injury. Burns, surgical incisions, and piercings are common triggers.
"Your healing system gets stuck in overdrive, continuing to lay down collagen long after the wound is closed."
This is where peptide therapy becomes valuable. Different peptides work on different parts of the scarring problem: some reduce fibroblast overproduction, others improve collagen organization, and some promote the transition from scarring to normal tissue remodeling.