Wound Care Specialist

What is wound care?

Wound care is medical care focused on healing wounds, particularly slow-healing and non-healing wounds. You could need wound care if you have a chronic wound (ulcer) that persists for eight weeks or longer without healing.

Oakland Orthopedics and Sports Medicine treats both the wound and the underlying condition to speed your recovery and reduce your risk of serious complications like amputation.

What causes chronic wounds?

Wounds go through a four-step process of blood clotting (hemostasis), inflammation, tissue rebuilding (proliferation), and finally remodeling to reinforce the healed tissue. A disruption in any one of these phases can derail your healing, leading to a chronic wound. 

There are several types of wounds that can become chronic, with the most common being diabetic foot ulcers, pressure ulcers, postsurgical wounds, venous ulcers, and infectious wounds.

The feet, ankles, and legs are very common sites for chronic wounds; however, you can develop a chronic wound anywhere. 

Many different factors can increase your chances of developing a chronic wound, including poor immune system function, chronic conditions like diabetes, smoking, extra weight, and dry skin. The way you care for your wound is also a major factor in how it heals. Without proper care, wounds can quickly deepen.

What are the signs that I need wound care?

There are usually a few telltale signs of disrupted healing:

• Swelling
• Skin tightening
• Intense skin reddening
• Skin darkening at the wound borders 
• Increasing pain or soreness
• Warm-feeling skin
• Pus, blood, or clear fluid discharge
• Foul odor 

If you have one or more of these issues, reach out to Oakland Orthopedics and Sports Medicine to avoid complications through advanced wound care.  

What does wound care involve?

Oakland Orthopedics and Sports Medicine offers a selection of personalized approaches for wound care. Most people receive a few different therapy types; the most common include:

• Debridement - dead skin removal
• Topical dressings
• Topical or oral medications, like antibiotics
• Hyperbaric oxygen therapy
• Skin grafts
• Precision medicine injections

If you start treatment early enough, you have a very good chance of preserving your skin and everything beneath it while preventing major complications like severe infections. Only the most severe chronic wounds — usually those that go untreated for a long time — tend to require amputation.

Oakland Orthopedics and Sports Medicine offers the finest in advanced wound care, so don’t delay preserving your health and preventing complications. Book an appointment online or call the office for wound healing help now.