Wound Care: How Compression Wrapping Helps

Most minor cuts and abrasions can be treated at home with antibiotic ointment, banadages, and good hygiene. But deep or open wounds need expert medical care from a professional trained to identify and treat infections, ulcerations, and gangrene — the likely complications of untended wounds.

Dr. Joseph Goin at Calvary Urgent Care in Humble, Texas, has extensive experience treating wounds of all types and degrees of severity. He expertly sterilizes your wound to prevent pathogens from setting up shop while you heal, and he may prescribe pain medication to keep you comfortable as well.

Dr. Goin discusses one of the lesser-known treatments for certain types of wounds. Here’s how compression wrapping can aid the healing process, and when you might need this type of treatment.

WHAT IS COMPRESSION WRAPPING?

A compression wrap can take several different forms. Depending on the type of injury, Dr. Goin may recommend a compression bandage, compression socks or hosiery, elastic wraps, or a pump-activated device. Each delivers a different level of pressure.

WHAT DOES A COMPRESSION WRAP DO?

When you experience trauma that results in a wound, blood rushes to the scene to deliver healing properties and fight any bacteria, fungi, or viruses that might try to enter your open skin. But when blood and other fluids remain at the site even after your wound has closed, the inflammation becomes more of a hindrance than a help.

Compression wrapping reduces the swelling and keeps blood moving more efficiently in the injured area.

All types of compression wraps have the same goal: push out excess fluid and reduce swelling. Leg wounds are the typical candidates for compression wrapping, since gravity makes it hard to move fluid out of the area. Compression wraps limit the veins’ ability to expand and help blood move more efficiently, which assists the healing process.

Further, reducing the inflammation near your wound makes it easier for your damaged skin to receive oxygen, which also speeds healing.

WHAT TYPES OF WOUNDS BENEFIT FROM COMPRESSION WRAPPING?

The most common area for compression wrapping is on the leg, because the lower extremities need the most assistance to fight the effects of gravity.

If you have surgery on your knee or anywhere on your legs, compression wrapping can help keep the swelling down after your procedure.

Another common condition that calls for compression wrapping is chronic venous insufficiency. If the veins in your legs have weak walls or faulty valves, your blood flow is compromised.

Spider veins and varicose veins are clear signs of venous insufficiency. Venous ulcers, a complication of this condition, are open sores that form when the blood pressure in your legs and ankles causes extreme swelling that breaks the skin.

Compression wrapping helps clear the blood and excess fluid from the area, keep the bandage or dressing in place, and speed healing.

If you have a leg wound, a venous ulcer, or any slow healing, deep cut or abrasion, come see Dr. Goin right away to prevent serious complications. Request an appointment online or over the phone today.