The peripheral nerves can regenerate a lot faster than most would think. But it is not as easy as one would assume. Peripheral cells are long, the nucleus is in the spinal cord and the axons that extend out go all the way down to the leg. When a nerve gets cut, all the axons downstream degenerate. The regrowth requires the two ends to somehow find each other through the damaged tissue. The cells, called Schwann cells, are very important to this process. The Schwann cells are normally found wrapped around the axons. The Schwann cells usually are called the 'quiet' cells due to the lack of work they have to do, except for when an injury occurs. Their role is basically bridging the gap in the wound to close it up.
This article was very complex for my mood, but it made me feel a lot more informed about how my body heals during an injury. There are cells that I never even heard of until I read this article. I honestly think it's an article for the class to read since we went over cells and things.
http://www.biologynews.net/archives/2010/09/28/how_injured_nerves_grow_themselves_back.html
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