Wound care can reduce your risk of infection and encourage your body’s healing process if you have diabetic or venous leg or foot ulcers. At Foot and Ankle Center, LLC, in Marrero, Louisiana, board-certified podiatrists and foot and ankle surgeons, Catherine Hudson, DPM, Denise Elliott, DPM, and the team offer various wound care services, including cleaning, debridement, and antibiotics. Call Foot and Ankle Center, LLC, today to request a wound care consultation or make your appointment online.
Wound care is a podiatry subspecialty that diagnoses and treats diabetic ulcers and other slow-healing open wounds.
Anyone can experience foot and leg ulcers, but they’re most common in people with poor circulation. If you have a wound on your leg, foot, or ankle, and it doesn’t improve with at-home treatment, contact Foot and Ankle Center, LLC.
The Foot and Ankle Center, LLC, team uses wound care to treat several types of open wounds, including:
These ulcers form because of untreated diabetes.
If your blood sugar remains high, it causes nerve damage (neuropathy). Neuropathy affects your ability to feel pain and other sensations. If you have neuropathy and cut yourself or develop a blister or sore, you might not realize it and get an infection.
These wounds form because of vein damage. If the valves in your leg veins don’t work properly, blood can build up, pool, and cause an open wound.
These ulcers form because of poor circulation. If your blood can’t reach the tissues in your feet or ankles, your skin and the surrounding tissues die, forming an open wound.
If you develop an ulcer on your foot or leg, don’t wait to get treated. Intervention can prevent infection and gangrene.
Your Foot and Ankle Center, LLC, provider reviews your medical records and asks about your symptoms. They examine your feet, ankles, and lower legs looking for sores, breaks in your skin, and redness.
Then, your provider touches your toes and feet with different tools, testing your ability to feel sensations. They also order diagnostic imaging, like X-rays or an MRI, to see how far the wound extends beneath your skin and if there’s an infection.
The Foot and Ankle Center, LLC, team takes a conservative and minimally invasive approach to wound care in podiatry. They may recommend:
If you have a severe infection or gangrene, surgery might be necessary. The podiatrists have extensive training in wound management and regularly perform skin grafts and other similar procedures.
Call Foot and Ankle Center, LLC, today to explore the benefits of wound care, or book your appointment online.