What makes wounds heal slow

The skin is our largest organ and has high plasticity, meaning it takes on and heals from many traumas and injuries over your lifetime. That being said, when your skin and its many layers seem to be working against you instead of for you, you may wonder if your wound will ever heal. Many things can be done to help those suffering from chronic wounds, and Hancock Regional Hospital has specialists dedicated to wound care in its Center for Wound Healing.

A chronic wound is defined as either a slow-healing wound, recurring wound, or one that fails to heal completely. Lifestyle factors, including a poor diet, not getting enough movement to offload the wound, smoking, and taking certain medications, can all contribute. Other causes that you may not have control over include dead skin cells, medical conditions such as diabetes or vascular disease, age, immobility, significant trauma to the skin area, surgery, deep burns, and trophic ulcers.

Do regular self-checks. Catching wounds early is the key to avoiding infections and complications. Make sure you do daily self-checks and look for new wounds, especially on your feet. Remove dead tissue. Necrosis dead cells and excess tissue often occur with diabetic wounds. This can promote bacteria and toxins and increase wound infection.

It can also prevent you from being able to inspect the underlying tissue. Your doctor will often help you with the removal process. Keep dressings fresh.

Regularly changing dressings can help reduce bacteria and maintain appropriate moisture levels in the wound. Doctors often recommend special wound care dressings. Keep pressure off the area. Pressure can cause wear and tear that damages the skin and leads to a deeper wound or ulcer. This will make it easier to see blood or other signs of drainage on your socks. They can identify the wound and advise you on how best to care for it.

The faster you get the appropriate treatment, the more likely you are to prevent complications. Eat a healthy diet. Diet has a direct influence on blood sugar levels, so maintaining proper nutrition is key. People with diabetes can often maintain better blood sugar control by avoiding processed carbohydrates, added sugars, and fast food. If you have multiple wounds or have undergone a severe trauma e. Skin needs an adequate amount of fluid and moisture to be viable. Cardiovascular conditions are among the most detrimental, but diabetes and immunodeficiency conditions can also slow wound repair.

Prescription medications can have a negative effect on healing. For instance, according to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs often prescribed for arthritis and found over the counter as aspirin and ibuprofen, can interfere with the inflammation stage of the healing process.

Anticoagulants have the capacity to disrupt blood clotting, while immunosuppressants may weaken the immune system and enhance the risk of infection. Wound Care Solutions is your partner in wound health. Our mission is to keep patients at home, healthy, and out of the hospital. Visit us today to learn more. Home Medical Equipment. Phone: Fax: Wound Care Solutions.

Pressure Ulcers. Preventative Care. Patient Health Resources. Here, the two issues impeding the healing process are arterial insufficiency, where there is compromised blood flow to a wound site through the arteries; and venous insufficiency , where spent blood and fluids cannot return up through the veins. This occurs when plaque forms on the inside of arteries and impedes blood flow. Treatments may include artery bypass or angioplasty to open the artery that is obstructed. With venous insufficiency, the valves inside the veins that prevent the backflow of fluids are not functioning properly.

Thus, blood and fluids leak out and pool in the lower extremities. The challenges presented involve forcing blood and fluids back into the tissues and veins and then manually or mechanically pumping them back up toward the heart. This can be accomplished through various kinds of compression therapy including compression stockings and bands, manual lymphatic drainage and electronic sequential venopneumatic pumps. In extreme cases, a vein specialist can employ venous ablation where a tiny laser is passed into an insufficient vein.

That vein closes down completely, allowing the body to re-route blood and fluids up through more viable veins. Infection is the proliferation of bacteria, virus or fungus in or under a wound site that inhibits the natural and timely healing of the wound. Normally, when these invaders enter a wound site they are quickly overtaken and destroyed by the millions of fresh white blood cells the body makes every day.

But when the wound is compromised by any of the other four conditions described in this article, infections can be difficult to resolve. That's particularly true when the infection originates on or around a bone osteomyelitis. With no other place to go, the infection "tunnels" up to the skin surface and forms a lesion or sore. Here, diagnosing the type of bacteria is the key to resolving the infection through excellent wound care and competent administration of IV antibiotics.

Infections may also be surgically excised as with abscesses and cysts. Once the infection is treated and eradicated, the body is then able to resume its normal course of organic wound healing. Edema is fluid that accumulates in the skin, dermis or fatty tissue and usually occurs in the lower extremities. This fluid build up is typically due to venous insufficiency poor venous return and is a risk for developing sores venous ulcers.