Self-Healing

There are many ways in which the body can heal itself. The immune system is a major healer to the body. It has many processes, some which are for protection and others that are for prevention. Your body's immune system can be described as having two sections to itself. They are the general or the non-specific, and the adaptive or the specific.

Your nonspecific immunity is made up of a few things that you may or may not have considered to be a real protector. The skin is an example of a nonspecific immunity. It protects the body from invading particles and other foreign materials. This organ is able to heal itself through the immune system's lymphocytes, which gather together and repair damaged tissue. These lymphocytes are major parts of the immune system as well. Another nonspecific immunity you have is mucus. It is able to trap particles and has certain chemicals that kill off invading bacteria. Other nonspecific immunities are acids and cilia.

As for specific immunity, your body has antibodies which tag a cell that has a virus' DNA/RNA inside of it. They then set out to destroy it. This immunity is specific to viruses. The antibodies are able to do this because they have a receptor which makes them able to recognize the bad cell and the ability to attract phagocytes to the area.

Phagocytes are another nonspecific immunity. They are a type of white blood cell. What they do is basically eat or consume bad cells, and use a variety of enzymes to break it down. The body has memory B cells as well for viruses. These are used to remember the virus' form and shape so the virus does not attack again. This is similar to the way that vaccines work.