Venous Ulcers 101- part 2

Here are some bona fide treatments for a venous ulcer.

Leg elevation is a must. Whenever you sit down or lie in bed, elevate the leg. The longer you maintain leg elevation, the less will be the pressure inside the veins. Leg elevation reduces swelling, pain, and redness of ulcer. Of course, leg elevation alone will not cure the ulcer, but will help lessen symptoms. Leg elevation is not a one shot deal; it has to be done for months. Leg elevation is often combined with other treatments.

Varicose veins: The most common cause of venous ulcer is varicose veins. If the varicose vein is not treated than no matter what you do, this will not help. This is a major error by most physicians. One must treat varicose veins before the ulcer can heal. There are many methods to treat varicose veins (see prior writing). 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 one should get a decent vascular surgeon to look at the wound. The majority of wound clinics are not run by people who know a lot about varicose veins. There are thousands of products for wound care. There is no difference between any of them. These products also cost a fortune. For someone who has little money, rinse the leg in warm water. Apply a slightly moist gauze on the wound and then apply dry gauze on top of it. The principle is that the 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. Twice a day cleaning with water and gauze is better than anything that is sold by wound care clinics. However, always let a vascular surgeon look a the ulcer to ensure that it is healing and you are doing a good job.

Skin care must be meticulous. Do not apply soaking wet gauze on the ulcer as it will macerate skin and will not debride the wound. 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.

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.