Treatment for venous ulcer: part 2

Bona fide treatments for a venous ulcer include:

Once a venous ulcer has developed, try and elevate the leg every chance you get. When sitting down or lying in bed, try and keep the leg up on a pillow. Leg elevation reduces pressure in superficial veins and allows the ulcer to heal. Further, leg elevation reduces swelling, pain and discomfort in the calf and ankle. However, leg elevation alone will not cure a venous ulcer but does reduce the symptoms. One should not be misled into thinking that leg elevation for a few days or a few weeks is adequate. Leg elevation is part of long-term treatment and must be adhered to rigidly. Leg elevation is generally combined with other treatments.

The cause of a venous ulcer is due to long standing varicose veins. If varicose veins are not treated, then no matter what treatment is utilized the ulcer will not heal. Most health care workers treat the ulcer but never attempt to treat the varicose veins. One must treat varicose veins either surgically or non-surgically in order to heal the ulcer. The pressure inside varicose veins is high and once this pressure is eliminated, venous ulcers will heal.

Wound care of a venous ulcer requires frequent cleaning and debridement. The wound cleaning can be done at home but once in a while, a visit to a vascular surgeon may be required. The majority of wound clinics are run by individuals who know a very little how to manage a varicose vein appropriately. There are thousands of products for wound care and ulcers. There is no difference between any of them. These products also cost a fortune. For someone who has little money to invest in these expensive wound care products, rinsing the leg in warm water is adequate. Apply a slightly moist gauze on the wound and then dress it with a dry gauze on top of it. The principle is that Wet to Dry gauze will peel of all debris when you remove it. Do not soak the gauze with a lot of water; it will macerate the wound and skin. If the gauze is dry, it may stick to the ulcer surface and hurt like hell when you pull it off. Just a wee bit wet and then, dry gauze.

Twice a day cleaning with water and gauze is better than any product that is sold in wound care clinics. However, always let a vascular surgeon look a the ulcer to ensure that it is healing

Antibiotics are often written by physicians for venous ulcers. Unless an ulcer is infected, antibiotics are not needed. An infected wound will have foul smelling drainage, extreme pain and one may even have a fever. The ulcer will look hot and beefy red. If you have a clean wound, antibiotics are a waste of money.

Washing solution: The medical field is inundated with thousands of anti septic solutions. You do not need any of these. The more solutions you use, the greater is the probability that these chemicals will destroy your normal tissues and prevent healing. The best solution to clean an ulcer is warm water and a sterile dressing. Why the consumer is so preoccupied with medical antiseptics and disinfectants is hard to understand. The majority of these solutions are best reserved for hospital use.