What is wound care?
In podiatry, wound care refers to the treatment of any type of tissue injury to the foot or ankle that isn’t healing as it should. A cut, scrape, or minor laceration should heal over time with proper care. If you have a wound that isn’t healing or that looks infected, you may need professional help to accelerate the healing process.
What causes slow-healing wounds?
There are many reasons slow-healing wounds occur, including:
- Poor circulation
- Diabetes
- Smoking
- Swelling
- Nutritional deficiencies
- Severe trauma
Slow-healing wounds are particularly dangerous for those with diabetes, as they are at a high risk of developing diabetic foot ulcers.
What is a diabetic foot ulcer?
Diabetic foot ulcers are open wounds that are prone to infection. Many people with diabetes have neuropathy, or nerve damage, that makes it difficult to feel pain in their extremities. If you get even a small cut on the bottom of your foot, you may not feel it.
Because diabetes also leads to poor circulation in your legs and feet, the combination of nerve damage and lack of blood flow stifles both the healing process and your ability to feel pain from the wound.
Over time, this ulcer can grow and become infected. Without early intervention, you can experience permanent tissue damage and even amputation.
What type of wound care do podiatrists provide?
The primary goal of caring for foot wounds is to promote healing and prevent infection. How the board-certified podiatrists and ankle surgeons at Mercer Ocean Podiatry treat your wound depends on the location and severity of the wound.
You can prevent wound infection by keeping your blood sugar levels under control if you have diabetes, cleaning and bandaging the ulcer, and refraining from walking barefoot.
As your wound heals, the team recommends removing any pressure from the wound by elevating your foot. They can also apply medication directly to the ulcer to aid in healing and protect the wound from infection.
If the tissue in and surrounding your wound is dead, the team performs a procedure called debridement to remove the dead tissue.
Wound care can help you avoid potentially dangerous complications, including amputation. To schedule an appointment with Mercer Ocean Podiatry, call or book online today.
