Something I’ve always been curious about is how cuts or burns inside of your mouth heal without forming a hard scab like you would get on your skin. Does blood clot differently in our mouths?
In: 3024
Blood clots the same way anywhere there’s an injury to a blood vessel (and sometimes where there isn’t, unfortunately). Even in fully-internal injuries, like a bruise, you still get clots to stop the bleeding.
Scabs are, specifically, *dried* clots. They can only form when exposed to air. The clots inside your blood vessels are soft and flexible: they stick together well enough to plug the hole against normal blood pressure, but they don’t harden like a scab because they stay wet.
These softer clots are actually all you need for good healing. A scab can help protect the injury site against reinjury, but there’s a tradeoff: it’s harder for new cells to grow under a scab.
So even on the outside of your body, [moist wound healing](https://www.woundsource.com/blog/benefits-moist-wound-healing) – which prevents the formation of hardened scabs – is faster, with lower rates of infection and less scarring.
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