How long does it take for a mucous membrane biopsy to heal?

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Mucous membranes act as the body’s protectors in a way, lining those bodily cavities and canals that interact with the outside world. These membranes are found in the respiratory (mouth, nose, windpipe and lungs), digestive (stomach and intestines) and urogenital (ureters, urethra and urinary bladder) tracts. They act as the points of exchange, a kind of import-export center, between the internal and external worlds, importing nutrition and intrusions required for reproduction and gases, and exporting extrusions, gases and bodily excretions.

While the membranes vary in structure, they do have in common moisture and a surface layer of epithelial cells covering a deeper layer of connective tissue. Also, but not in all cases, they are called mucous because they contain cells that secrete a mixture of glycoproteins known as mucin. In addition to mucin, mucous is also composed of water, epithelial (surface) cells, dead leukocytes, and inorganic salts.

Mucous serves several functions. The moisture serves as a protective shield for the body, preventing the inside of the body from drying out. The mucous will trap pathogens, dirt and other foreign matter and excrete it from the body. The nose is a perfect example of this. Here the mucous helps to prevent harmful substances from making their way down the respiratory tract. In the mouth, in addition to lubricating the area, the mucous serves another function: that of moistening the food. And, in the alimentary canal, the mucous membranes extract the necessary nutrients that the body needs, as food travels along.

The lining layers of the mucous membranes vary in depth, depending on their function. In the areas closest to the point of exchange, such as the mouth, anus and vagina, the cells are thin, similar to the skin. In most other sites there is a single layer that may comprise tall ‘columnar’ cells, flat ‘squamous’ cells or intermediate ‘cuboidal’ cells — depending on the function of the tract.

While the mucous membranes do perform a function similar to a protective shield, they are not impenetrable. Harmful substances can be quickly absorbed through the membranes. If the membranes are cut or ripped in any way, this can pave a path for infectious agents to enter the body.

As these membranes stand in the forefront of some of the body’s key functions, they are crucial in helping clinicians determine the extent and type of various diseases, which is why biopsies can be performed on these membranes. A biopsy is the process of removing living tissues or cells that are then examined under a microscope or in a culture to help clinicians make diagnoses or follow the course of an illness. Biopsies can be performed in a number of different ways, such as swabbing (least invasive), suction through a needle, scraping, endoscopy or surgically removing an entire or partial structure.

It usually takes mucous membranes a little more than a week to repair themselves following more invasive forms of biopsies. If more than two weeks pass and the area has not healed, a physician should be consulted.

Resource by Will

I am the editor for TheFreeResource.com, and owner of LinchpinSEO, a small business content creation company. The Free Resource has a select community of talented writers, teachers, and business people (and we are always looking for more) that bring you the most trusted resources on the web and credible articles about many topics.

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