# Cuts and scratches....

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuts-and-scratches/202243>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 17, 2003, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuts-and-scratches/202243 "2003-09-17T22:59:57Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\
**Post date:** [September 17, 2003, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuts-and-scratches/202243/1 "2003-09-17T22:59:57Z")

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It’s been a while since I took a health class so if this sounds stupid bear with me.

Sometimes when I get a cut or scratch, I ponder it. I wonder…For my body to heal the scratch/cut(assume little to no blood loss), does it burn extra calories to do so(not anything big, but say, 5-20 more then normal) or require any extra extra nutriets? Or does it fall under the normal budget of skin/tissue replacement? Not that I’m looking for an excuse to eat more food, but I am curious.

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**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\
**Post date:** [September 17, 2003, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuts-and-scratches/202243/2 "2003-09-17T23:20:47Z")

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Yes there’s a vey slight extra energetic cost associated with healing.