If your doctor has told you that you need to go to a wound care specialist to have an injury treated that is not healing, you may be wondering what makes wound care specialists different than a traditional doctor.
How does this type of specialist treat wounds differently, and what kind of result are you likely to get?
Trained in the care of wounds — While a doctor has training in all types of general medicine, a wound care specialist has specialized training in the care of wounds. This means they have an extra three years of medical training above the medical degree they all must have.
What types of wounds can they treat? — These specialists treat all kinds of wounds as a result of all kinds of situations. They include chronic wounds caused by things like diabetes, bed rest and surgical wounds, as well as acute wounds caused by accidents or injury.
Who are these wound care specialists? — There are generally four types of medical professionals that work as specialists treating wounds. They are nurses, doctors that specialize in wound treatment, technicians and even physical therapists.
How do they take care of wounds? — These four medical specialty personnel clean and dress wounds. They look closely at wounds to diagnose why they are not healing, and then create a treatment program to solve the problem.
Plastic surgery is also sometimes involved, if the wound has become infected and skin and flesh has had to be removed. It may even involve physical therapy if a wound has caused mobility issues, or circulation problems.
Reasons why you should see a wound care specialist — There are many reasons why you should see a wound care center NJ specialist. Some of them include having diabetes, wounds caused by surgery, bed sores, ulcers that will not heal, wounds and ulcers caused by vascular problems and even wounds caused by radiation treatments.
When will you usually be referred to a specialist? — Any wounds you have should begin healing in just a few days, and should be completely healed within two to three weeks. Unless they are extensive wounds, which will take longer.
If you have a wound that has not healed very much in a month, however, and you have been taking care of it as your doctor recommended, it is highly likely they will refer you to a specialist.
What happens when you are referred? — A typical wound care specialist will evaluate the wound, and come up with a course of treatments that should help it heal.
These treatments make include oxygen therapy, maggot therapy, chemical cauterization, compression therapy, debridement and even nutritional therapy. It can even include antibiotic infusion therapy and ultrasound, depending on how bad the wound is and how long it has not been healing.
If you are referred to a specialist by your doctor, this usually means he is very concerned about a wound you may have. That is why you should immediately accept his referral and see a specialist as soon as you can.
