How Does a Blood Clot Form?

What Happens to Cause a Blood Clot

Blood clots are nature's way of keeping people from bleeding to death when they are cut or have injuries. Another term for blood clotting is coagulation. When you get a cut or puncture wound, your body's blood clotting abilities spring into action even before the first drop falls. There are several main parts of the body that act in this clotting process. The major cells responsible are the cells lining the blood vessels. The inner layers of these cells are most important in blood clot formation. People also carry a protein called fibrin. The fibrin is part of a network of proteins that stick together, with the fibrin acting like the glue in the process.

Blood platelets can form together to cause a clot. Platelets also called blood cells are the specific cells that compose our blood

Early Formation of The Blood Clot

The platelets are first created in the bone marrow. They then leave the bone and travel along the bloodstream. Think of them as the "hall monitor" that routinely travels through the area making sure all is well. Once there is injury and bleeding begins these platelet cells start to chemically change in reaction to the injury. They become sticky and start joining together at the site of the cut with the inner layers of vessel cells. At this point, if you were able to see the clot, it would be white. Platelets appear white to the naked eye.

Final Stages of Blood Clot Formation

Now that the platelets have started forming this white clot, the fibrin begins its job. The fibrin the chemical mix of other assorted proteins would look like a long sticky string if you could see it. These join with the platelets at the clotting site to form a weblike structure. As blood flows to the injured site, red blood cells catch on the sticky web of platelets and fibrin and are trapped. This is the formation of the final clot that you actually see as red and effectively seals the cut so that further bleeding is not possible.

Resources

• Health resource about blood clots and clotting conditions