Venous Ulcers

Venous ulcers can develop when the circulation in your legs and feet slows down and interferes with your body's ability to heal itself. If you have deep open wounds, VIP Wound, with offices in Memphis, Tennessee, and Holly Springs, Mississippi, can help. Their team uses the latest methods to treat venous ulcers and address the venous diseases that cause them. To learn more about treating venous ulcers, call the nearest office today. 

What are venous ulcers?

Venous ulcers are wounds or sores on your skin that tend to develop on your legs, particularly around your ankles. Some are shallow, but many form deep wounds that can be extremely painful.

Venous ulcers often prove resistant to healing, meaning they may stay open for months and sometimes years. This can have a significant adverse effect on your quality of life, and infected wounds can sometimes lead to bone infections and tissue death (gangrene).

In the worst cases, complications like these may result in the need for amputation to prevent the infection from spreading to the rest of your body, which could prove fatal.

What causes venous ulcers?

Venous ulcers are a consequence of reduced circulation in your veins (venous stasis). Your legs are particularly vulnerable to venous stasis because while they're trying to push blood up and back to your heart, gravity is dragging it down toward your feet.

Vein diseases like venous insufficiency make this problem worse. Weakened valves in the veins allow blood to trickle backward, where it pools and forms varicose veins. As the veins worsen, fluid seeps into the surrounding tissues.

To make matters worse, having poor circulation means there's a lack of oxygen and nutrients in the tissues. This affects your immune system and stops your body from repairing itself properly. Toxins also build up, inflammation sets in, and the tissues start to deteriorate.

Any minor break in the skin at this point can lead to a venous ulcer. You're more likely to get venous ulcers if you have diabetic peripheral neuropathy — a common complication of diabetes that causes numbness in your feet, meaning you might be unaware of minor wounds.

How are venous leg ulcers treated?

There are two aspects to treating venous ulcers. One is to clean and dress the wound; the other is to address the underlying cause.

Wound care is a specialized area of vein care. It involves the removal of dead or infected tissue from the ulcer, a process known as debridement. There are various methods of performing debridement, including surgery.

Once the wound has no dead tissue left, the VIP Wound team cleans it thoroughly and applies a dressing to protect it and help it heal.

Treating the underlying cause of your venous ulcer involves improving the circulation in your leg. Your VIP Wound provider achieves this by performing a minimally invasive procedure to destroy or remove diseased veins. Options include:

• Asclera® sclerotherapy
• VenaSeal™ vein closure system
• ClosureFast™ endovenous radiofrequency ablation
• Ambulatory (microhook) phlebectomy
• Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT)
• Negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT)
• Compression therapy
• Nutrition counseling
• Removal of dead tissue
• Frequent follow-up and wound checks
• Skin grafts

To seek treatment for venous ulcers, call the nearest VIP Wound office today.