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My Trips to the Hospital


About Me

My Trips to the Hospital

Hi, I'm Cari. When I was a teenager, my best friend Claire's mom got cancer. I started offering to take Deb (the mom) to the hospital for her treatments to help give the family a break. They had all been in and out of the hospital so much, and since I'm basically family to them, it was nice to support Deb and Claire. Not to mention, I was able to learn a lot about different medical topics just be listening and watching while waiting in the hospital. It was fascinating. To everyone's joy, after a long and hard two years, Deb finally beat cancer! I decided to start this blog as a memorial to all those who have struggled with health problems and as a resource to for anyone who needs to know more about hospitals and treatments.

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Treatment Options For Wounds That Won't Heal

In a healthy human body, most wounds heal within a few days to a couple of weeks. If you have a wound that does not seem to be healing, you had better not ignore it. Left untreated, an unhealed wound could become infected and even gangrenous. Your best bet is to call up your general practitioner, who may refer you to a wound care specialist for treatment. Here are some of the treatment options that wound care services may then recommend. 

Antibiotics

If your doctor feels that your poor healing may be due to an infection in the affected tissue, they may prescribe oral antibiotics. A broad-spectrum antibiotic like doxycycline can help your body fight off the infectious bacteria. Once the tissue is in better health, it should begin to heal. Note that you will generally need to take antibiotics for at least 7 to 10 days for them to take full effect. Never stop taking them early, even if your wound begins to heal better, as this can cause the infection to come back even more severely.

Diabetic Care

Diabetes is a common cause of poor wound healing. If your blood sugar levels are too high, that means sugar is not making its way into your body's cells. Without sugar, your body's cells cannot regenerate and repair themselves effectively, so healing suffers. Especially if you have other symptoms of diabetes, like frequent urination and a recent change in weight, your doctor will test you for diabetes. If your blood sugar levels are high and indicative of diabetes, then your doctor may prescribe insulin or work with you to create a diet plan to keep your blood sugar under closer control. Once your blood sugar levels are better controlled, you should begin to heal properly.

Tissue Debridement

Sometimes, new tissue starts growing up around the edge of the wound instead of growing to close the wound. This excessive tissue is known as proud flesh, and it can interfere with the healing process. If you have some proud flesh around the wound, your doctor may have to trim it away to essentially reopen the wound and cause it to start the whole healing process once again. Generally, your doctor will apply some local anesthetic so you don't feel a thing during this procedure. The wound will also be dressed to speed healing.

Which treatment is recommended will depend on the reason why your wound is not healing and its location. As long as you follow your doctor's instructions, you should be feeling better soon.