Hospital participates in wound care week

Wound Management Service at Hot Springs County Memorial Hospital is helping raise awareness about chronic wounds. The fifth annual Wound Care Awareness Week is being held June 4-8. Care providers across the nation will dedicate the week to educating colleagues, patients, and the general public about the prevalence of chronic wounds and options for treatment.

Jeri Black-Farber is a physical therapist certified in wound care. She explained a wound may be considered chronic if it doesn't heal in an orderly manner and within a predictable time period. A wound that remains open more than three months may be considered chronic. In the United States 6.7 million people are affected by a chronic wound. Left untreated, chronic wounds can diminish an individual’s quality of life and possibly put the person at risk for amputation. Factors that may compromise wound healing include immobility, diabetes, and poor circulation.

Black-Farber suggests those concerned about their wounnds should consult with their primary provider of healthcare services. The provider can offer guidance to facilitate healing. A referral to Wound Management Service may be one component of that plan of care. Wound healing often involves a coordinated effort to eliminate the cause of the wound, to promote adequate nutrition for the body to heal a wound, and to provide wound care that keeps the wound clean and moist.

A provider such as a doctor or PA has to refer a client to Wound Management Service, Black-Farber explained, and she would suggest to the provider a course of action to help the wound(s) heal. This course can include exercises to promote healing, determining whether the injury should be soaked or dry, or choosing the right type of bandage or ointment.

While it would be nice to be able to treat all wounds with simple soap and water with a gauze wrap, Black-Farber said that’s not the case and when someone is referred to Wound Management there is a need for more advanced treatment. Some wraps, she said, are designed to simulate seaweed and are more absorbent. Others, particularly on the high tech end, help the body produce the collagen needed to help a wound heal itself.

Another course of action to consider in treatment is debridement, which is the scraping or cutting away of dead tissue from a wound to improve the healing of remaining healthy tissue.