It’s common to have ulcers, skin tears, and other types of wounds that don’t heal on their own. These severe wounds can cause you to experience discomfort, decreased mobility, and other challenges, but you don’t have to deal with these issues on your own. At R Shaheen Vascular in Mountain View, California, we have extensive experience in wound care md. Read on to learn how our specialized techniques can heal your complex wounds.
What Is Wound Care Used For?
Wound care is used to treat ulcers, tears, burns, and other types of wounds that haven’t healed on their own. These techniques can be used to address a wide variety of wounds and injuries.
Diabetic Ulcers
Having diabetes will increase your chance of developing ulcers. Diabetes causes your blood sugar to rise. Over time, your elevated blood sugar will damage your blood flow.
Your decreased blood flow makes it difficult for your body to heal sores and injuries in your feet, legs, and other places on your body. In addition, diabetes causes nerve damage that can prevent you from noticing and treating your injuries. Over time, these untreated injuries can turn into diabetic ulcers. Fortunately, our wound care treatments can heal your diabetic ulcers and improve your overall health.
Osteomyelitis
Osteomyelitis occurs when an infection enters your bone. This issue can develop when a puncture wound or other injury allows germs to go into one of your bones. Certain illnesses, such as peripheral artery disease and diabetes, will increase your risk of developing osteomyelitis.
Peripheral Arterial Disease Ulcers
Peripheral arterial disease is a condition in which the blood vessels in your legs or other locations on your body become damaged. This disease will decrease your body’s ability to move blood within the affected area. Over time, this disease can cause you to develop ulcers on your feet.
Venous Stasis Ulcers
Venous stasis ulcers are caused by weakened or damaged veins. These ulcers often develop on your lower legs. Varicose veins, heart diseases, and deep vein thrombosis will increase your risk of developing this type of ulcer.
Gangrene
Gangrene develops when you have dead tissues in your body. This issue can be caused by severe infections or issues with your blood flow. Although this issue generally occurs in your fingers, toes, or other extremities, you can also develop gangrene in other locations in your body. Certain conditions, such as diabetes, increase your chances of experiencing gangrene.
Pressure Ulcers
As its name implies, a pressure ulcer is caused by pressure that is applied to your skin for a long period of time. For instance, if you are confined to your bed during an illness or other injury, you might not be able to change positions on your own.
Remaining in the same position for a long time will put pressure on your ankles, hips, and other areas of your body. Over time, this pressure can cause you to develop pressure ulcers, also known as bedsores, on your skin.
Other Wounds
In addition to the wounds described above, we can treat a variety of other injuries. In particular, we can heal burns and wounds that develop after you received a medical procedure. We can also improve the condition of skin tears that resulted from a fall or other accident.
What Are the Benefits of Treating My Wounds?
Prevent Complications
When you do not treat a complex wound, your injury may become more severe. This can lead to infections and other complications. For instance, in very severe cases, medical professionals may have to amputate a limb that has been damaged by diabetic wounds. Treating your wound at an early stage will prevent you from developing these issues.
Improve Mobility
Your wound can cause restrictions and discomfort that will prevent you from walking, swimming, and engaging in other types of exercise. You might also struggle to perform chores around the house, so healing your wound will increase your ability to do chores and engage in physical activities such as hiking and swimming. Regaining your ability to take part in these activities will improve your overall health and sense of wellbeing.
Reduce Scars
Injuries that take a long time to heal are likely to result in noticeable scars on your body. Treating your wound will allow it to heal more quickly. As a result, your treatment will reduce the chances that your wound will turn into a scar.
Avoid the Hospital
If you leave your wound untreated, your injury may worsen and you might have to receive an invasive procedure that requires a lengthy hospital stay. Staying in the hospital can be uncomfortable and expensive. Further, your time in the hospital will take you away from your job, childcare duties, and other responsibilities.
Fortunately, receiving wound care treatments will reduce your chances of hospitalization. At R Shaheen Vascular, we offer a variety of minimally invasive and non-invasive wound treatments that can be performed on an outpatient basis.
Eliminate Discomfort
Ulcers, burns, and other serious injuries can cause you to feel intense discomfort. This issue will decrease your ability to concentrate at work. Further, the discomfort associated with your wound can prevent you from engaging in social events, hobbies, and other pleasurable activities. Treating your wound will reduce your discomfort and allow you to focus on your work and social life.
What Types of Treatments Can I Use to Heal My Wound?
We can use several different techniques to treat your wound.
Advanced Compression Services
A severe wound or injury can cause fluid to accumulate in your body. The accumulation of this fluid, which is called edema, can be uncomfortable and upsetting. Advanced compression is a technique that improves your lymphatic system’s ability to process this fluid. During your treatment, we will use pressure to help your body process and remove this excess fluid from your target area.
Wound Debridement
Sometimes wounds contain dead tissues and other materials that disrupt the healing process. During wound debridement, we will remove dead tissues and other debris from your wound. Eliminating these materials from your body will promote the healing process and minimize your chance of developing bacterial infections in your wound.
Wound VAC Treatment
Wound VAC treatment is a wonderful way to treat a complex wound. During this treatment, we will put a specialized dressing over your wound. This dressing will remove air pressure from the wound.
Removing this pressure will improve the condition of your wound by minimizing swelling and reducing bacteria in your treatment area. This technique will also clean your wound and reduce any unwanted fluid in this area of your body. Further, this treatment will encourage your body to grow healthy new tissues in your target area.
Allografts
An allograft is an innovative treatment that uses natural tissues to heal your wounds. Allografts are frequently made with materials obtained from umbilical cords or amniotic sacs. These materials are used to make an extracellular matrix that contains stem cells, collagen, fibroblasts, growth factors, and other substances that help your body heal.
This treatment is very good at promoting the healing process. For instance, a scientific study showed that allografts are a safe, effective way to heal diabetic foot ulcers.
How Can I Help My Wounds Heal?
Your lifestyle plays a large role in your body’s ability to heal your wounds. Certain behavioral changes can help you achieve optimal results from your wound treatment.
Monitor Your Wound
You should examine your treatment area every day. In addition, you should pay attention to your level of discomfort. If your wound becomes more uncomfortable or if you see negative changes in its appearance, you may have developed an infection in your wound. If you notice any of these issues, please inform us immediately. We will help you address these challenges before they become more severe.
Quit Smoking
You probably already know that smoking is harmful to your health. However, you might not be aware that smoking puts extra stress on your body that hampers its ability to heal your wounds and injuries. Quitting smoking during your wound treatment will improve your health and help your body heal your wound in a quick, efficient fashion.
Hydrate Your Body
Drinking adequate amounts of fluid will enhance your body’s healing ability. In particular, staying hydrated will improve your blood flow and your body’s ability to remove waste from your treatment area. To stay hydrated, you should drink lots of water and avoid alcohol and caffeine. These substances can dehydrate your body and harm the healing process. Similarly, you should not drink soda and other liquids that are high in sugar.
Move Your Body
When you stay in one position for a very long period of time, you will put pressure on your body that decreases the blood flow to your wound. To avoid this issue, you should make sure to move your body at regular intervals. For instance, if you frequently sit in front of your computer, you should take a break every fifteen minutes or so. During this break, you can improve your blood flow by adjusting your position and posture.
Receive Adequate Nutrition
Your body needs nutrients to repair your wound. To give your body ample vitamins and other nutrients during your wound treatment, you should eat a diet that is high in vegetables, fruit, nuts, and whole grains. You should avoid eating foods that could harm your health, such as sodas, candy, and other items that are high in refined sugar. You should also avoid processed meats and snacks.
Am I a Good Candidate for These Treatments?
If you have a burn, ulcer, or other wounds that haven’t healed on their own, you are likely to be a good candidate for one of our wound treatments. Further, if traditional treatments have not improved your wound, you might benefit from using one of our state-of-the-art techniques.
To determine which of our treatments is best for you, you’ll have an initial consultation before we treat your wound. During this consultation, we will examine your wound and talk about your medical history. Since certain medications may prevent you from receiving some of our wound treatments, you should tell us about any medicines that you are currently taking.
We will also analyze your nutritional levels and blood flow. If you have any issues in these areas, we will develop plans to improve your diet and vascular system. Addressing these issues can help your body heal your wound.
Heal Your Wounds
You don’t have to go through life with ulcers, burns, or other wounds that don’t heal on their own. We offer a variety of specialized wound care treatments that can heal your wounds and improve your quality of life. To learn more about our range of wound care treatments, contact us at R Shaheen Vascular in Mountain View, California for an initial consultation today.
