High Blood Pressure and Wound Healing
The Dangers of High Blood Pressure High Blood Pressure and wound healing do not go together. Hypertension or high blood pressure is a measurement of how hard your body has to work to pump and circulate blood through the arteries. There may be no symptoms of high blood pressure, but a severe condition can bring on severe headaches, fatigue and weakness, blurry vision and even nausea or vomiting. Unmonitored symptoms can sometimes lead to heart failure. High blood pressure, or hypertension causes blood to move through the heart’s pumping chambers less effectively, with increased pressure in the heart, which robs your body of oxygen and nutrients. To compensate for reduced pumping power, the heart’s chambers respond by stretching to hold more blood. This keeps the
Smoking and Wound Healing Do Not Go Together
Smoking Prevention to Heal Your Body Smoking and wound healing do not go together. Why? Because just one puff of a cigarette can further restrict much needed oxygen and blood traveling to the place of injury. We all tend to associate cigarettes with lung disease, but did you know that smoking affects every cell in your body? Even one cigarette limits oxygen flow throughout the body. One of our Nurse Practitioners here at the Wound Care Clinic can often be heard telling patients, “When you are smoking a cigarette, it’s just like you are putting it right in your wound.” What a visual! What Your Body Needs to Heal Oxygen is the basis for wound healing and it all begins at the cellular level; smoking
Beware of Heating Pads During Treatment or Post Surgery
Beware: The Danger of Heating Pads Beware of heating pads – they should never be used near an open wound or after surgery. The temporary relief causes unseen damage. Many times burning under the skin can occur, without seeing the visible signs first. Unfortunately, the staff at the Wound Care Clinic sees many patients who have burned themselves with heating pads. In many cases, the patient falls asleep because of the comfort of the warm heat. Other times, the patient cannot feel the skin burning because of neuropathy. Second and third degree burns can be caused from heating pads, which not only will extend the healing process, but also further complicates the treatment needed. Electrical burns can damage the skin, extending to underlying deep tissue
Controlling Blood Sugar for Optimum Healing
Control Blood Glucose Controlling blood sugar is vital for wound care. High blood sugar levels tend to stiffen arteries and cause narrowing of the blood vessels, which slows down post-surgical and chronic wound healing. This reduces vital blood flow and oxygen directed toward the affected area(s), which the body uses during the natural healing process. If the chain reaction continues, diabetes can develop (if not already onset). Without sufficient nutrients and oxygen, wounds will continue to take a long time to heal, and the condition could rapidly deteriorate if not monitored closely. Healing of Aging Skin Changes to the skin through the natural aging process cause some slower healing but, combined with a bad diet and high blood sugars, it could lead to more problems.
Why do some wounds take so long to heal?
There are many variables to consider when analyzing slow healing wounds such as age, status of health, lifestyle, nutrition, or post-surgery. Non-closing wounds are known as ulcers, and when located at the lower leg, feet, or ankles, even walking can extend the healing process due to frequent pressure. Poor blood flow to the wound can also prevent sores from healing quickly and could be a signal of diabetes or another chronic disease. If a patient is a smoker this also slows down the healing process, since smoking keeps damaged cells in an inflammatory state, while being deprived of much needed oxygen. Steps of the healing process Natural wound healing involves several steps. Right after an injury, the body increases blood flow to the trauma area.
New Method for Wound Healing: Electrical Stimulation
E-Stimulation: An Effective Modality to Facilitate Wound Healing From Today’s Wound Clinic, May 2012 Every action in the body, from the cellular level to the level of gross motor function, begins as an electrical impulse. When it comes to chronic wounds, electrical stimulation (ES), one of several biophysical technologies, is known by those healthcare providers who employ its use to be one of the most cost-effective, therapeutically efficacious tissue repair and wound healing accelerators in the industry today. By restoring the natural electrical potentials necessary for cellular activities that have become stalled, ES re-establishes and intensifies healing processes. There has been substantial research regarding the effects of ES on the cellular and physiological mechanisms that enhance wound closure and healing. This article does not attempt