Wound Care
Advanced Treatments for Chronic, Non-Healing Wounds
A normal wound should show some signs of healing after a week. Many patients diagnosed with diabetes and circulatory conditions have a difficult time getting their wounds to heal. Even if you do not have one of these conditions, if your wound has become infected your body may not be able to recover properly. If you have a wound that is over 30 days old and has not made any improvement, it is time to seek medical attention.
Our wound treatments centers provide patients with access to advanced wound treatments and a dedicated team of wound care experts. Our multidisciplinary team of specialists includes physicians, podiatrists, vascular surgeons, infectious disease specialists, plastic surgeons and specially trained nurses. We work closely with patients to create customized treatment plans.
What Stops a Wound From Bleeding?
Blood plays an important role in your body’s ability to heal. The oxygen and nutrients in blood are essential to the wound healing process, as oxygen produces energy that stimulates the body’s internal functions. Patients with high blood pressure, diabetes, or other conditions that affect blood flow often suffer from non-healing wounds.
Check your wound regularly for signs of infection or lack of oxygen:
- Pus leaking from the wound
- Blue or dark discoloration around the wound
- Redness and/or swelling around the wound
- An unusual odor coming from the wound
- The pain has not decreased
- The wound is unusually warm or feels hot when touched
If you notice any of the above symptoms, you should have your wound examined by a doctor as soon as possible. Infected wounds need to be treated before they have a chance to cause more damage to the rest of your body.
Treating a Non-Healing Wound
In most cases of non-healing wounds, supplying the affected area with more oxygen will help jumpstart the healing process. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is an advanced wound care treatment in which patients are placed in a large pressurized tube and exposed to high air pressure that allows your lungs and body tissues to absorb more oxygen. This excess oxygen can more quickly transfer to the blood and travel to where it is needed most.
Your wound care specialist may also recommend a human skin equivalent treatment. In this treatment, harvested human skin cells are applied directly to the wound to help stimulate skin regeneration and cover the wound.