How can tension on wound edges interfere with healing?

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Close-up of a person holding a child's hand with scabs on the fingers, gently cleaning the wounds with gauze. — wound Injuries that break skin can be painfully memorable.

Tension on wound edges interferes with the healing process primarily by compromising the blood supply to the affected tissue.1

Normal healing requires that wound edges be closely opposed without undue stress. When tissue is too tight and edges cannot be brought together without tension, the resulting restriction of blood flow hinders the body's ability to repair the injury effectively. To mitigate this, surgeons may perform procedures to free the skin from underlying subcutaneous tissue or utilize skin grafts and flaps to achieve closure without tension. Furthermore, excessive tension is associated with increased scar formation, which is why surgical incisions are ideally made parallel to normal skin lines to minimize stress on the wound.1