Why is the body swollen when inflamed?

Immediately after an injury, the injured area becomes red, hot, sore, and it begins to swell. The swelling process, also known as edema, is the result of acute inflammation, a reaction caused by damage to living tissues.

In the case of injury, the purpose of the inflammatory response is to remove damaged tissue components, allowing the body to begin to heal. The first stage of this process is characterized by a change in blood flow in the affected area . After injury, blood vessels dilate and blood flow into the tissues increases, creating redness in the affected area.

The influx of liquids and other substances to the injury is the cause of swelling.

This is followed by an increase in the permeability of blood vessels , allowing liquids, proteins and white blood cells to move from the circulation to the location of tissue damage. The influx of liquids and other substances to the injury is the cause of swelling. Swelling is sometimes very serious, so much so that it limits the ability of the organ to move to affect the body.

Swelling, heat and redness in the injured tissue areas can be reduced by the work of white blood cells, especially phagocytes. Phagocytes clean up cell debris due to injury. Phagocytes are called neutrophils, containing specialized metabolic enzyme particles for this process.

A large number of these leukocytes often penetrate injured sites within an hour of injury. From one to two days later, other white blood cells called monocytes penetrated the wounded area to complete the process of cleaning dead cells.

A traumatic inflammatory response usually lasts only a few days. If the inflammation continues, it can be called chronic inflammation, with a less frequent but persistent swelling; healing is often unusually slow.