Delays in surgical wound healing can be caused by various wound complications like infections, spitting stitches, and incisional failure dehiscence. The ability to heal a wound may be complicated by presurgical factors of general health status like smoking, poor nutrition, diabetes, heart disease and obesity.
Regardless of how and why the surgical site is delayed in healing, you want it to heal as fast as possible. No one goes into surgery thinking they will be the one to have an issue. Stimulating the body's process is important to give the wound a needed boost in healing especially if it has been open for more than a few weeks or no longer progressing.
What you do between appointments can greatly affect your healing trajectory.
Nutrition is hugely important! Your body cannot grow new tissue without adequate nutrients to support healing. Water, protein and amino acids are key basics to hit on a daily basis. The water consumption rule should be enough that urine is a pale yellow color. As a calculation rule 1 mL of water/kcal of consumed food. Protein is needed to build new tissue. A recommendation for protein consumption of 1.5-2.0 grams per kilogram of body weight.
Amino acids like arginine and glutamine are helpful for wound healing and is found in whole foods and colorful plants and veggies. However; I often recommend a supplemental powder that is tasty and easily added to water for clients that have slow healing wounds which includes branched-chain amino acids and nitric oxide which is great for improving blood flow.
Improving lymph drainage and blood flow will support the wound healing process. Lymph drainage helps to remove toxins and blood flow brings healing nutrients to the wounded areas. Both systems are stimulated by movement. Simple activities like walking and pumping those leg muscles are easy to do and a great way to start.
Another option to stimulate blood flow is to use of Electrical Stimulation which
has been used in wound healing for decades. In the past it was performed with medical grade higher voltage equipment as a modality mostly provided by physical therapy services. In looking for alternative options for those healing at home I found a 2021 study documented that Tens could be a viable treatment option to increase blood flow and inhibit bacteria growth. Tens units are fairly cost-effective and treatments are easily performed at home.
If you want to try the Tens treatments,
I would love make sure it is the right treatment option for you. Please connect at betterwounds@gmail.com
Read the article about using a Tens Unit for yourself. Check it out here: Rajendran SB, Challen K, Wright KL, Hardy JG. Electrical Stimulation to Enhance Wound Healing. J Funct Biomater. 2021;12(2):40. Published 2021 Jun 19. doi:10.3390/jfb12020040
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