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When Should Advanced Wound Care Be Considered?

The human body has the amazing capacity to heal itself after an injury or illness. However, severe trauma to your tissues can sometimes be challenging to address without outside help, and you might struggle to recover from burns or surgical wounds. At Advanced Biosculpt and Shaheen Vascular in Mountain View, CA, we offer advanced wound care to anyone who is struggling with long-term injuries.

If you have an ulcer, burns, gangrene, or osteomyelitis, you are likely to be a good candidate for this kind of treatment. We will invite you to visit the clinic and then go through the various methods, which include advanced compression services, allografts, wound debridement, and wound VAC treatment. Together, we’ll determine which ones could be most suitable for you, so you can avoid going to the hospital because of your injury.

Who Needs Advanced Wound Care?

Most wounds heal on their own, but if you have been struggling with an injury for several weeks or months and it is not getting better, it might be time to consult a specialist. Infection, debris, and dead tissues could be causing the delay. Fortunately, they can be effectively addressed through advanced care. In some cases, this treatment can prevent you from losing a limb or even your life.

You Have an Ulcer

Ulcers are open sores, located either externally on your skin or internally in your tissues, which fail to heal quickly. They are a break in the skin or mucous area of your body, and you will typically be in considerable pain while they last. Although some, such as sores in the mouth, are very small and harmless, others are large and can cause significant problems. For example, lesions in your stomach or intestine can result in life-threatening conditions.

In general, ulcers occur when there isn’t enough blood flow to the area to heal the wound. They might affect any tissue in your body but are most commonly seen on your extremities or your hips and back. People with circulatory problems are particularly susceptible. Sometimes, your ulcer can’t heal on its own, so you will need to speak to your vascular specialist about advanced healing techniques.

Your Surgical Wound Isn’t Healing

After surgery, you might have a considerable wound that takes some time to heal. Most patients recover from procedures within a few weeks, but some wounds are harder to get rid of than others.

Again, this is especially the case in people who have circulatory problems such as diabetes, vein disease, or atherosclerosis, since their tissues may not receive enough blood flow to heal themselves. If you have a surgical wound that isn’t getting any better, consult your doctor to find out whether you need to take additional measures.

Your Skin is Burned

Burn wounds are different from other types of injuries, and they are often more challenging to manage. If you’ve been injured in a fire, your skin might be inflamed for a long time, and you risk developing long-term issues like scars. To get the best outcome possible and avoid such problems, you should try advanced healing techniques, which can speed up the process and prevent permanent damage.

You Have Gangrene

Gangrene is much less frequent now than it used to be before advances in medicine, but it can still occur when wounds aren’t treated properly. It happens when blood flow is restricted or cut off from an injured tissue, which then starts to die. In addition to the pain you might feel, you’ll see your skin turn greenish-black, and you’ll experience numbness. There might also be some discharge.

If you are worried that your wound is turning gangrenous, you need to see a medical professional immediately because it can be dangerous to your health. In extreme cases, this condition could cause death. Fortunately, it can be treated through advanced wound care techniques, especially if you speak to your doctor early on.

You Have Osteomyelitis

Osteomyelitis is an infection in one of your bones, which is either caused by an injury such as a blow to the tissue or because an existing infection has travelled through your body to the bone. It most often occurs in the arm, spine, or legs. Aside from the painful symptoms at the site of the infection, you might also develop a fever and chills.

This issue can usually be seen in young children under five, but it can affect older people, as well. If left untreated, the infection can eventually kill the bone, and you’ll need to have part of it removed. For this reason, you should never delay seeking out medical care when you notice the symptoms.

How Can Your Wound Heal?

As you can see, advanced wound healing methods are suitable for anyone who has a long-term problem with an injury or who is at risk of a serious infection that could cause damage to their body. At our clinic, we use a variety of methods to address these injuries, and they range from noninvasive treatments to surgery that removes some of your tissue.

Advanced Compression Services

One of the biggest problems with wounds that don’t heal is that fluid starts to accumulate. This increases your pain levels and makes it harder for your body to recover. When you come to the clinic, we will evaluate your issue to see whether you are suffering from an excess buildup of fluid.

If so, we will suggest advanced compression services. With this treatment, your lymphatic function can be increased, and the fluid will be directed to other areas of your body. From there, it can then be absorbed or expelled, and your injury will no longer be so swollen.

Allografts

Regenerative medicine is a new and extremely exciting branch of study that allows us to use the body’s own healing power to recover from injuries and the negative effects of aging. One of the ways we do this is by delivering allografts, which are human-donated grafts, to the site where they are most needed. They will deliver vital components, such as collagen, epithelial cells, fibroblasts, and growth cells to the area.

One of the main reasons why this treatment is so popular is that it is completely natural, and you don’t have to worry about excess chemicals in your body. Your wound will receive exactly what it needs to heal, and you won’t put your health at risk in the process.

Wound Debridement

When you have a significant wound that doesn’t heal well, the reason is often that some of the tissue has died and is now causing further infection. Wound debridement is a surgical method that involves removing any dead tissue, debris, and biofilm from the area. Once the wound is clean, it’s much more likely to form healthy, new tissue and heal itself. This method is particularly suitable for people suffering from gangrene and similar conditions.

Wound VAC Treatment

Vacuum-assisted closure treatment is used to decrease the air pressure around the wound. A vacuum dressing is placed on it, so that there is no risk of infection, and the wound can heal properly.

There are multiple benefits to using VAC treatment, and they include less risk of a bacterial infection, the edges of the wound being pulled in, reduced swelling, and less fluid retention. As a result of this wound care method, the growth of new cells will be stimulated, and your wound will be able to heal without much additional assistance.

Which Method Is for Me?

Every one of the above-mentioned methods can help patients to recover from serious wounds and tissue damage without having to spend a long time in a hospital. When you come to see us at the clinic, we will invite you to an initial consultation and have a look at your wound. At that time, you should bring all your medical records, so we can determine which treatments are an option for you.

Together with your doctor, you will decide on a course of action. In some cases, we can simply use one method and see great results, but if your injury is extensive, we will combine treatments to give you the best chance of success.

Get the Help you Need and Heal Your Wound Today

Sometimes, it’s hard for a wound to heal on its own, especially if there are complications such as ulcers or gangrene. Similarly, injuries caused by fire can be particularly hard to recover from. There are several advanced wound care treatments that can help, and they include advanced compression services, allografts, wound debridement, and wound VAC treatment.

To find out how these methods could help you recover from your injury or illness, you should get in touch with a vascular specialist. Call us today at Advanced Biosculpt and Shaheen Vascular in Mountain View, CA to make your initial appointment with our experts. We will be happy to discuss your problematic wound and figure out a way forward that doesn’t include a lengthy stay at a hospital.

Shaheen Vascular

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