• Question: when you chop part of your finger off when it grows back does it still register as strong as usual

    Asked by to Ben, Dave, Ditte, Heather, Rebecca on 19 Jun 2014. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: Ben White

      Ben White answered on 19 Jun 2014:

      I think this would depend on how much you chop off.
      Unfortunately unlike animals like axolotl, we’re not very good at healing and regenerating limbs.
      This is due to how our immune system handles healing of wounds, as it causes some damage in inflammation while preparing to fight off infection, and also doesn’t have the same regulation of genes that allow of regenerating large amounts of tissue.

    • Photo: Rebecca Gladstone

      Rebecca Gladstone answered on 19 Jun 2014:

      Even when we have smaller injuries like a cut when we heal it heals in a different way so that we can see it after we have healed.
      Scars are formed because the way the protein fibre that replaces the damaged area is no longer in a criss cross pattern but in a single direction, this single direction means that the area cannot function as well as before and often hairs and sweat glands are missing and you can burn more easily.
      I have quiet a few small scars, they remind me to be more careful!

    • Photo: Ditte Hedegaard

      Ditte Hedegaard answered on 26 Jun 2014:

      Hi Yacob,
      I agree with Ben and Rebecca, the sensitivity of the new tissue depends on how much have been chopped off. Large cuts may have damaged the nerves in the area and the sensitivity and functionality might never be the same again. In general I think that the smaller the cut the more likely you are to get full recovery. Having said that there is other factors that might influence the healing process, such as bacteria infections. These can happen in even small cuts and may cause additional damage to the tissue. In extreme and very cases they might cause the infected tissue to die and the dead tissue will have to be amputated. As I said, this is extremely rare and only happens if the cut is not cleaned proper.

      A limp amputation means that the tissue and bone has been removed from the body, however this doesn’t mean that the person can’t still feel pain in the missing limb. These types of pain are called phantom pains, because there is nothing to feel pain in. The nerves in the amputated stump might not be aware of this and may tell the brain that something is wrong in the missing limb. Even though the patient can see that there is nothing there, he or she will still have the sensation of pain. I think it is really interesting how the brain and nerves works together.

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