When you were a kid, you probably had many boo-boos fixed with a character bandage and a lollipop, but wound healing isn’t always that simple. Sometimes, specialized care is needed when a wound won’t heal.
The body has a pretty elaborate process to heal itself, but occasionally, that process is slowed—or even stopped—by an underlying medical condition. This can cause even a small cut or scrape to quickly become a bigger issue.
What should you do if you have a wound that doesn’t seem to be getting better? Keep reading for the details.
The Wound-Healing Process
Wound healing is a function of the body’s immune system. When you get a cut, scrape, scratch, or a more severe wound, the body jumps into action. Within a few minutes, your blood starts to clot, which stops the wound from bleeding.
Shortly thereafter, those clots dry up and a scab forms, protecting the tissue under the skin from germs outside the body. As the wound begins to heal, it may swell some or feel tender. You may also see fluid oozing from the wound. There’s no need to be concerned about this clear fluid—it actually helps keep the wound cleaned!
The body’s white blood cells begin to repair the wound during this stage. Blood vessels will open around the wound, bringing oxygen and nutrients to that spot on your skin. After a few days, the body begins to rebuild and grow new tissue, along with skin over the tissue.
As the wound heals, it will get smaller and the skin may feel tighter and even itch. You may have a scar, which may or may not disappear or fade over time.
When a Wound Won’t Heal
Above, we describe the normal process for wound healing, but what about when a wound won’t heal? Many different medical conditions can disrupt the wound-healing process, including diabetes, poor circulation, an impaired immune system, and infections. Poor nutrition, certain medications, and radiation therapy can also disrupt the healing process.
In some cases, these underlying factors may simply cause the wound-healing process to slow down a bit, but in others, they can turn a simple cut or surgical incision into a chronic wound, meaning one that sticks around for several weeks or even longer.
Researchers aren’t quite certain why some wounds are harder to heal than others, but it’s believed that the second stage of healing—called the inflammatory phase—is where things go awry. If you take another look at the wound-healing process described above, you’ll note the role that white blood cells play in this stage, fighting off infection and helping the body repair itself.
A research study published in 2020 found that chronic wounds seem to get stuck in this stage of the healing process. That means they don’t advance on their own to the stages where new tissue forms and the healing process completes.
Finding Help for a Non-Healing Wound
Whether you experienced an accident that caused a lingering wound or have a surgical incision that’s slow to heal, you might benefit from wound care services. These services use specialized techniques to promote wound healing, helping the body overcome deficits in its own wound-healing process.
If a medical provider recommends you seek wound care services, you’ll first be evaluated to determine what’s causing a wound that won’t heal. Using that information and other factors related to your overall health, our team of wound care specialists can create a treatment plan that’s personalized for your needs.
Wound care treatment may include:
- Compression therapy
- Debridement (removal) of dead tissue
- Edema (swelling) management
- Evaluation of seating, bed surfaces, and off-loading devices
- Vascular assessment
- Wound dressing and wraps
Many patients, including those with non-healing wounds related to diabetes and circulatory issues, benefit from hyperbaric oxygen therapy. In order for wounds to heal, the tissue surrounding the wound needs oxygen.
During the normal wound-healing process, your blood vessels carry oxygen to the spot of your injury, but circulatory issues can keep the wound from getting the oxygen it needs to heal. That’s where hyperbaric oxygen therapy can help.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy involves immersion in a hyperbaric chamber, which exposes the body to 100% oxygen at a higher-than-normal air pressure. Compare that to the 21% oxygen we breathe in on a normal basis.
The increased air pressure inside the hyperbaric oxygen chamber allows the lungs to collect more oxygen—and then to distribute that oxygen to tissues in the body, including the slow-healing wound. It can be that little extra oomph that helps your body move past the inflammatory stage and on to the last stages of healing your wound.
If you have a wound that just won’t heal, turn to the West Tennessee Healthcare Henry County Center for Wound Healing. Our providers use specialized tools and techniques, including hyperbaric oxygen therapy, to promote healing. Call 731-644-8208 to learn more.