"DAVID WILLIAMS" bravely wrote to "MILES MAXTED" (03
Jul 05  22:00:56)
 --- on the heady topic of "Re: Levitation... and GO"

 -> A neater physical memory than the traditional surface scar !

 -> :-)
 DW>
 DW> But it shows itself only when I hurt that foot, which I'm glad to say
 DW> doesn't happen often.
 DW>
 DW> About six months ago, I badly broke my left wrist. The first time in
 DW> my  life that I've broken a bone. I had to have surgery, during which
 DW> an  "external fixator" was put on it. That was basically
a metal bar
 DW> that  was fixed to the bones with screws that penetrated the skin. It
 DW> held  everything rigidly in place while the bones healed. I was told it
 DW> was  much more rigid than a plaster cast. After a couple of months, it
 DW> was  removed, and the screw-holes healed in much the same way as my
 DW> foot did  after the nail went through it. Sometimes, dimples appear
 DW> where the  screws were.
 DW>
 DW> After the fixator was removed, and after another few weeks in a cast
 DW> (it really was a bad break), I attended a physiotherapy and
 DW> rehabilitation clinic three times a week to get the motion and
 DW> strength  back in the wrist and hand. It was a clinic that specialized
 DW> in wrist  and hand injuries, so all of us patients had suffered similar
 DW> injuries.  Many of us bore the same "badge" of dimples in
our arms and
 DW> hands.
 DW> They threw me out of the clinic after a couple of months, when my hand
 DW> stopped improving. It's *almost* normal, but not quite as good as it
 DW> was before being hurt. I guess I'll just have to live with it.
 DW>
 DW> Age sucks.


The reason isn't completely age. Consider that our skin renews itself
on a yearly basis, all the cells die and flake off to be replaced by
new ones. In fact every cell in our bodies are renewed on similar
schedules. The question is why do even minor surface scars remain?

The reason is that there is some kind of a memory left behind either
in the local cell organization or in the brain. I learned that an
injury or trauma isn't easily forgotten in the brain because of the
adrenaline released at the time of the event.

Since our brain forms virtual images of our body it may be
subconsciously directing the healing process while being influenced by
the trauma memory and I'm of the opinion that this is why it keeps a
scar or phantom pain. Basically, the body image in the brain is
damaged so the healing process is directed to repeat the flaw.

I heard once that this was the price to pay for a higher level brain
than say a salamander which can replace the tail it leaves behind as a
flight mechanism or amphibians like frogs that will outright replace a
limb. I wonder if a person can be hypnotized after an injury to forget
the trauma and if it will then heal without a scar? It's just a kooky
theory...

 M*i*k*e

... First Law of Lab Work: Hot glass looks exactly the same as cold glass.
--- Blue Wave/DOS v2.30