Leg ulcer after accident

Has anybody suggested Manuka (sp?) honey?
Legs- shins - are notoriously stubborn about healing because the skin has no cushioning. I hope all the treatment planned is successful, but you will still have to be very careful.

RosiesMaw2

Has anybody suggested Manuka (sp?) honey?
Legs- shins - are notoriously stubborn about healing because the skin has no cushioning. I hope all the treatment planned is successful, but you will still have to be very careful.

Thank you. Not yet. My mother took a chunk out of the front of her leg when she was 90 and the district nurses did eventually manage to get it to heal by using honey.
I’m away this weekend so the nurse just put a silver infused dressing on and I’ve to go back on Tuesday for the Doppler etc.
I feel a bit of an idiot that I’m so panicked but I’ve just never experienced anything weird happening to my body before.

Is it definitely an ulcer?
My husband's kept cracking and getting worse.
It was an infection and was cleared once they knew what it was exactly.
He had to tell them he would buy his own swabs though before the surgery got any in!

NotSpaghetti

Is it definitely an ulcer?
My husband's kept cracking and getting worse.
It was an infection and was cleared once they knew what it was exactly.
He had to tell them he would buy his own swabs though before the surgery got any in!

Thank you. Apparently they now call it an ulcer if something hasn’t healed within a month. They said that the cut off used to be six weeks so I guess they’re treating things as an ulcer sooner and hoping for better outcomes?

Has the hospital checked your blood sugar ?
If everything is fine - shins are difficult areas to heal as it's so easy to knock off a scab .
My otherwise healthy 15 year old daughter had a leg ulcer for months .
She had blood tests and was given antibiotics and eventually steroids .
Finally , burn dressings were used with success .
It did heal , but left a scar .
I asked the doctor at the hospital why it had happened .
And he gave me a surprising answer -that he sees them more frequently in tall people .
My daughter certainly was and is tall !

SueEH I'm sorry to hear about this. It is most important that you have the Doppler done to establish what kind ulcer it is which will therefore determine the treatment. Please do not be tempted to put any homely remedies on this. It needs professional care if you are to get the desired result of total healing. I hope it begins to progress towards this very soon.

Esmay

Has the hospital checked your blood sugar ?
If everything is fine - shins are difficult areas to heal as it's so easy to knock off a scab .
My otherwise healthy 15 year old daughter had a leg ulcer for months .
She had blood tests and was given antibiotics and eventually steroids .
Finally , burn dressings were used with success .
It did heal , but left a scar .
I asked the doctor at the hospital why it had happened .
And he gave me a surprising answer -that he sees them more frequently in tall people .
My daughter certainly was and is tall !

Thank you. Blood sugar hasn’t been specifically checked but I had my annual health check not long ago and passed everything and not even near borderline re blood sugar. I’m definitely not tall tho… just 5’ 2”. The only drugs I take are a preventative asthma inhaler and prescribed antihistamines.

BigBertha1

SueEH I'm sorry to hear about this. It is most important that you have the Doppler done to establish what kind ulcer it is which will therefore determine the treatment. Please do not be tempted to put any homely remedies on this. It needs professional care if you are to get the desired result of total healing. I hope it begins to progress towards this very soon.

Thank you and yes of course I will go with the treatment suggested. I’ve never had any circulatory issues so not expecting to find a problem. I just find it so strange now that wounds are completely sealed from the air. It seemed to be doing so well with a couple of steristrips and then they started using silver dressings and sealed plasters and it’s ended up like this.

You need compression bandaging. Unfortunately our surgery no longer employs a specialist nurse and DH has to go to walk in at local hospital to get it done.

I'd be worried if they talked about a "cut off" point, SueEH
Seriously, my mum hurt her shin, also on a bucket, and it took a long time to heal.

All you can do is trust the process if it healing, and steer well clear of buckets!

Please try to elevate the leg when seated, as that will also help the healing process.

You need swabs, dressings, antibiotics.

My DH is currently trying to recover from a shin ulcer, as a result of opening the car door on his leg - 7 months ago! It appeared to heal up initially but not quite and has now required 3-times-weekly visits to the nurse for about 6 weeks. It is definitely improved but every now and then deteriorates a little. He has been referred to the "wound clinic" whatever that is and has his first appointment for assessment next week. He also had two lots of antibiotics this time round.

Both he and I used to have annual doppler scans - they test the strength of circulation in the legs - but they are now only given if you are diabetic. Poor circulation often accompanies diabetes and can hinder healing and risk the develompent of gangrene, but I wasn't aware that dopplers could identify different kinds of ulcer. DH has been told he will be having one after Christmas.

Sue - it's really good to find out if there are any underlying problems with a scan .
If you have a wound in an awkward place like a shin - then , they are difficult to heal .
I was convinced that there was something really wrong with my daughter (5' 9" ) forgetting all about sports at school !
Something both my daughter and I share with you - asthma .
She's outgrown it , but as I've got older mine is increasingly worse . I think that it can cause problems in that it compromises my general health .
Let's hope that it's nothing and heals quickly .
Take care .

I am extremely clumsy and am a regular visitor to the practice nurse because of wounds on my shins, corner of the dishwasher, a suitcase and a garden spade have been the inanimate objects that have attacked me, adding to the collection of scars on my lower legs. For me the silver dressings have worked very well but always weeks and weeks of dressings. The dressings that are waterproof and stay on for nearly a week do work so be patient, you will get there.

My father had ulcers on his legs for twenty years that never healed, they were so deep. Treatments have improved dramatically since his time in the 1990s.

Buy some colloidal silver online and spray liberally. It's a natural antibiotic and used to be used in hospitals especially burn units

I was in your position this time last year. Within two weeks of having compression bandages applied, the wound healed well. Unfortunately, lymphoedema was diagnosed at the same time and I now have to wear compression stockings. Good luck in your recovery.

A month ago I injured my leg on the corner of the dishwasher door. I went to our urgent treatment centre who dressed it and made an appointment with my practice nurse to have it re-dressed . Also I was given an appointment at a lower limb wound clinic yesterday. They did the doppler measurements and measured the blood pressure round my ankle where the wound was and compared it with the pressure in my arm and said there was nothing at all wrong with my circulation but that the wound has ulcerated. So I have to dress it myself and wear a specific sized tubigrip and go back in January. They told me to walk as much as possible but raise the leg when sitting. I had the same dishwasher related wound a couple of years ago but wasn't sent for any treatment other than dressings so I think maybe they are more careful these days.

DH has a leg ulcer. We prop the foot end of the mattress up with a spare pillow to just slightly raise it on his side and help circulation. Not uncomfortable - just a slight boost to circulation at night. Inidine and silver dressings both good but it does keep breaking out. Last time, compression stockings - the gold standard healing for leg ulcers - did the trick. Antibiotics this time are working well now.

I understand one hospital uses maggots with great success but I would be honey and bandages so skin breathes also keep the leg circulating with exercise.

It seems dishwashers are potential danger traps! The corners are so sharp. I cut my arm on the oven door because it was razor-sharp. The people who design these appliances certainly did not test them on users.

A feral cat was frequenting our garden and initially was deterred by hand claps, however when my cat arrived on the scene, intruder raced up the garden and attacked...me!!
Badly ripped shin
Liberal application of TCP and prayers helped and it scabbed over nicely
Scab took 4 months to drop off and was wet underneath, since when I was treated weekly by our marvellous nurses at the Medical Centre
Just 2 weeks ago, all well after a carousel of iodine, honey and seaweed dressings under waterproof patch
This was changed to dry dressing and after Doppler I had to wear compression stocking for 3 weeks.
Now fine, grateful and careful to avoid feline visitors!!
Hope you find the many posts helpful and reassuring:get well soon (flowers)

The dopler studies will determine the appropriate treatment. Please follow the advice from your practice nurse, they have extensive training in dealing with these problems, and can also fall back on specialist advice from tissue viability experts.

I second this Honey is a wonderful healer

I believe Henry VIII suffered same for many years !