We deal with healing every day. Repairing the body after an injury or surgery is an important gig for the human body. Whether by involuntarily or voluntarily actions, your body always fixes itself or tries its best to fix what’s broken. Something we often forget, or don’t even know about, is that our amazing body is in a constant state of repair every minute and second of the day.

The repair mechanisms that are built into our bodies are spectacular if you think about them. What it takes to fix and rebuild a broken bone or heal an ailing throat after a bout of strep or to close and heal a severe laceration is mind boggling.

It all happens inside the cells, the body naturally knows everything, it knows when to get rid of the old and replace with new. It knows that something was broken and sends its repair cells to start the process.

Can we see it happen? Absolutely, maybe not at the cellular level but we’ve witnessed cell reproduction and growth in our children. We see it in the aftermath of recovery and repair of an injury or surgery.

As a mother, I remember witnessing growth in my children and not understanding how they could skip two shoe sizes between purchases. Witnessing exactly what’s happening as the cells grow, replace, repair and in the case of kids’ reproduction, multiply.

Another good example is witnessing the repair of a specific medical treatment done to your skin. You can really see how quickly the cells repair themselves. Even a single night’s sleep can result in amazing witnessed skin repair.

Did you know that there are approximately 10 trillion cells and 200 types of cells in the human body? Some live short lives while others remain in our bodies from birth until after we die.

The skins epidermal cells have a life span of 2 to 3 weeks before they are replaced by new cells. This is normal every day/week cell replacement.  After a facial procedure this beefs up and your new skin should come out looking fabulous.

Your taste receptor cells will be replaced in ten days and that doesn’t even include your attempt to kill them sooner with insanely hot spices.

Did you know that the cells that line your stomach replace themselves within two days? Maybe that’s why we seem to rebound from the 24-hour flu fairly quickly? Colon cells have a lifespan of three to four days and the epithelia of the small intestine live for less than a week. Kind of makes you wonder about the necessity of colon cleansing if the colon is automatically cleansing its own cells.

The functioning of the white blood cells and the cells helping to fight inflammation can live for only 10 hours before being escorted out of the body and replaced with new cells. Red blood cells have a life span of four months where platelets will be replaced within ten days.

Cells of the nerves, and their various forms, for the most part don’t replicate. They remain in your body for your lifetime. Maybe explains why recovery from nerve injury or damage is so slow or non-existent?

Muscle cells also come in different types; skeletal, cardiac and smooth cells and are long-lived, averaging 15 years before they are replaced with new cells.

Bone cells also have an extended life span of 25-30 years. The beauty of bones is that they can continue to build upon these cells increasing bone density, which is especially important for skeletal health.

Liver cells average a life span of eight to sixteen months. Cells of the pancreas will survive a year or more.  Pretty amazing facts, don’t you think?

In general, the life of a cell is dependent on the type and health of the cell. Every minute an average of 300 million cells die and are replaced by new cells.

Focusing on good health habits is important to help keep all these new (and old) cells supported with proper nutrients and healthy circulation. A healthy diet, regular exercise, plenty of water, stress management and solid sleep will keep your healing mechanisms strong!