Non-healing wounds, called ulcers, can occur when your body experiences conditions like poor circulation or high blood sugar. Even repeated injury at the same spot can create a chronic wound. Nearly 6 million Americans deal with wounds of this type every year.
When the normal healing cycle fails, you may need the attention of a wound care specialist such as the Cardiovascular Institute of America in Tampa and Lutz, Florida. Dr. Muthu Velusamy and his team can customize treatment to meet the needs of each patient, resulting in the most efficient healing possible. They can also help diagnose vascular issues that may be behind ulcer formation.
Here are 5 treatments that are commonly used to help your body restore its natural healing cycle and overcome non-healing wounds.
A general practice followed during dressing changes, medical cleaning typically starts by flushing the wound with saline solution. This helps to clear the way for scab formation and removes debris and loose particles resulting from the wound’s progress.
Ulcers usually benefit from moist dressings, at least until the wound begins normal scab formation. There are a wide range of dressing materials available, from simple gauze bandages to dressings that incorporate substances that help improve healing conditions around the wound.
A more aggressive treatment that removes inflamed or dying tissue, debridement uses medical instruments to address moderate to advanced ulcers. Removing this compromised tissue limits its impact on healing. Dead skin could, for example, serve as food for bacteria that may infect the wound.
Debridement is usually performed under some form of anesthetic, using instruments such as curettes, scalpels, or tweezers. High-pressure water jets are also used. Removal of inflamed and dead tissue also promotes fluid drainage through the wound, helpful when the circulatory and lymphatic systems aren’t draining efficiently.
Infection is usually a low risk through the normal healing cycle, but slow healing could mean that pathogens have an easier time establishing themselves at the site of a wound. A bacterial infection can further slow healing. Topical antibiotics perform the best, applied directly to a wound, or onto a dressing covering the wound.
The lower legs are the most common area for non-healing wounds, since they’re not only furthest from fresh blood supply, the venous system must work against gravity to return blood to the heart. When you have a vascular issue, the problem could be magnified when backflow valves inside your veins start to fail, allowing blood to pool. Compression bandages and stockings help to support vein function. Reduced blood pooling improves the efficiency of circulation.
When an ulcer is sufficiently large, grafting skin from another part of your body may help to speed the healing process by reducing the area of new skin your body must generate. Skin grafts can provide about 20% more effective healing in some cases.
There are other ulcer treatments beyond these five, including hyperbaric oxygen therapy, negative pressure therapy, ultrasound, and electromagnetic therapy.
Non-healing wounds aren’t only an uncomfortable inconvenience, they can develop serious complications when left untreated. So, if you have a wound that seems to be taking a long time to heal or you suspect there may be a problem, schedule a consultation today by calling our office most convenient to you or booking an appointment online.
