While it’s normal to sustain wounds from time to time, it is equally essential to have these wounds looked at with utmost urgency because failure to do so can lead to ugly consequences.
With proper wound care, these wounds (whatever type they may be) should heal in time and help you get back on track. Sometimes, they don’t even leave a single trace.
Unfortunately, there are times when wounds don’t heal as expected due to several factors. If you are in that situation, below are some of the possible reasons your wound is not healing as it should.
1. Poor Circulation
Poor blood circulation is one of the most common reasons wounds don’t heal in time. There are a number of possible scenarios that can lead to such a condition. It can be because of a blocked or narrowed blood vessel or diseases affecting the heart, kidneys, and lungs, among others.
Possible Solutions:
Arterial doppler, deep vein thromboses (DVT), increased fluid intake, or simple offloading and monitoring of the affected area.
2. Medications
Sometimes, even the type of medication we take can affect the wound healing process. Some of the common medications that are known to delay wound healing are as follows:
Anticoagulants
Anti-angiogenesis agents like aflibercept or bevacizumab
Antimicrobials
Anti-rheumatic drugs
Antineoplastic drugs
Anti-gout drug Colchicine
Nicotine
Steroids
Vasoconstrictors
Possible Solutions:
Support the wound with advanced dressings, stop smoking, or consult your doctor to identify possible conflicts.
3. Poor Nutrition
It’s no secret that proper wound care alone is not going to be enough to get the job done. For wound healing to become successful, adequate nutrition is also required.
This is because nutrition deficiencies can impede some of the processes that allow the wound healing process to progress as it should.
Possible Solutions:
Consult a dietitian if and when necessary, dietary supplement intake, increased protein intake, and proper hydration.
4. Wound Infection
There are also times when we can be completely unaware of possible infection to our wounds simply because we failed to recognize some of its signs.
Some of these signs are the lack of progress with wound measurement, the deterioration of surrounding skin or an increase in edema and/or pain, unusual bleeding, change of color, and odor, among others.
Possible Solutions
The best way to address this problem is to request a wound culture from your doctor. Request some lab work that includes CBC, evaluate the effectiveness of the procedures you’ve gone through, or consult a wound specialist if needed (depending on the gravity of the infection).
5. Diabetes
It is common knowledge that diabetes is the biggest impediment to natural wound healing. This can cause chronic wounds to become severe and develop infections if left unnoticed.
This happens because an increase in blood sugar can lead to an impaired WBC function which weakens the body’s ability to fight infection. The development of poor circulation also compromises the body’s ability to deliver the much-needed nutrients the wound requires.
Possible Solutions:
Frequent wound monitoring will help along with adjusting glucose control methods. The use of advanced wound products can also help promote wound healing.
Final Thoughts
Done right, wound care should help heal wounds in a timely manner but it also pays to be observant when it comes to progress. If you think the healing process is slow (or not producing positive results at all), there may be other factors that can be affecting it and the reasons provided above should be a good place to start.
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