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Top Causes of Slow Wound Healing and How Mobile Care Can Help

Thursday, October 3, 2024

Top Causes of Slow Wound Healing and How Mobile Care Can Help

By: Irina Vella, MSN, APRN, FNP-BC, WCC

Wound healing is a complex process that typically occurs in four stages: hemostasis, inflammation, proliferation, and remodeling 1. A healing wound progresses naturally through each phase, eventually closing with healthy tissue. When this process is disrupted, wounds can become stalled in the inflammatory phase and become chronic, nonhealing wounds 1. Chronic wounds fail to progress through proliferation, leading to prolonged healing times and increased risk of complications.

Symptoms of a chronic wound include persistent redness, swelling, or a wound that hasn’t healed after 12 weeks 1.

Common Barriers to Wound Healing

Several factors can contribute to delayed wound healing, including:

  • Diabetes: High blood sugar levels damage blood vessels, impairing circulation and slow healing 2.
  • Poor Circulation: Without adequate blood flow, oxygen and nutrients cannot reach the wound site. Too little blood flow to the wound bed can limit cell function and impair wound healing. Additionally, weak valves in the veins of the lower extremities can lead to the back up of fluid in the legs and chronic ulceration 3.
  • Infection and Biofilm: Bacterial colonies in a wound can form a harmful biofilm barrier that protects the bacteria from the effects of topical antimicrobials and antibiotics 4. Biofilms produce toxins that kill our bodies natural immune cells such as neutrophils which, in turn, prolongs infection and delays wound healing 4.
  • Pressure: Increased localized pressure over bony prominences, especially in bed-bound patients, can cause tissue injury and prevent healing 5.
  • Nutritional Deficiencies: A lack of essential nutrients can slow tissue regeneration and patients with nutritional deficiencies have poor healing prognoses 3.

How Mobile Wound Care Can Help

Mobile wound care services provided by Restore First Health offer comprehensive, at- home assessments to identify barriers to wound healing. RFH’s advanced care providers perform a thorough health history and physical examination in the patient’s home to identify causes of impaired wound healing and create a personalized treatment plan aimed at promoting wound closure. Restore First Health wound teams can perform clinical assessments such as A1C point-of-care testing and ankle-brachial- index (ABI) assessment in the patient’s home and detect blood glucose or circulatory abnormalities contributing to delayed wound healing.

Mobile providers offer advanced therapies, including sharp debridement, which disrupts biofilm and removes dead tissue, and Ultramist therapy, which uses low-frequency ultrasound to reduce inflammation and stimulate tissue repair. In addition, compression therapy, advanced wound dressings, and tissue products can be applied to create an optimal healing environment that allows a wound to progress towards closure.

Care Coordination for Better Outcomes

Because wound healing involves multiple body systems, successful recovery requires coordinated care. Restore First Health’s wound care providers and care coordinators work closely with the patient’s primary care physician and specialists to ensure proper management of comorbid conditions that can affect wound healing progress.

Conclusion

Chronic wounds are complex, but with mobile wound care services provided by Restore First Health, patients can receive personalized, advanced treatments in the comfort of their homes. By identifying and addressing the underlying causes of delayed healing—such as diabetes, poor circulation, and infection—mobile care providers help put chronic wounds back on track for recovery. If you or a loved one is dealing with a non-healing wound, consider contacting a mobile wound care provider for a comprehensive, in-home assessment and advanced care.

References

  1. Wilkinson, H. N., & Hardman, M. J. (2020). Wound healing: Cellular mechanisms and pathological outcomes. Open Biology, 10(9). https://doi.org/10.1098/rsob.200223
  2. Burgess, J. L., Wyant, W. A., Abdo Abujamra, B., Kirsner, R. S., & Jozic, I. (2021). Diabetic Wound- Healing Science. Medicina, 57(10), 1072. https://doi.org/10.3390/medicina57101072
  3. Raffetto, J. D., Ligi, D., Maniscalco, R., Khalil, R. A., & Mannello, F. (2020). Why Venous Leg Ulcers Have Difficulty Healing: Overview on Pathophysiology, Clinical Consequences, and Treatment. Journal of Clinical Medicine, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm10010029
  4. 4. Sen, C. K., Roy, S., Mathew-Steiner, S. S., & Gordillo, G. M. (2021). Biofilm Management in Wound Care. Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery, 148(2), 275e288e. https://doi.org/10.1097/prs.0000000000008142
  5. Bowers, S., & Franco, E. (2020). Chronic Wounds: Evaluation and Management. American Family Physician, 101(3), 159–166. https://www.aafp.org/pubs/afp/issues/2020/0201/p159.html