Lower leg wound

I'm pleased it's improving, ferry23

When I went last Friday the nurse called in another nurse to demonstrate how efficiently gravity was working on all the various dressings
😁

Pleased to read that things are looking better.I wish you well for the future.

Thanks for asking Allira. Yes it is indeed on the mend. It seems that the dressings, bandages and compression bandage from last week really helped despite wanting to make their way down to my foot and bunching up underneath!

When I went last Friday the nurse called in another nurse to demonstrate how efficiently gravity was working on all the various dressings .

I had bought the velcro type slippers 1.5 sizes bigger and two widths wider than normal. The one for the bad leg was fine, but I had to put 3 inner soles and some tissue in the other one - if I tried to walk with an ordinary shoe on the good side I was too unbalanced, even if I could have put up with being stared at for wearing odd shoes!

Because it was healing so well, I am down to just dressings and a light stockingette thingy, which of course meant that I had to leave the surgery with a slipper about 2 inches too big and 2 inches too wide on the bad side. My cousin and her husband kindly took me and when I got to the reception area after being redressed they both found it highly amusing and my cousin asked if I'd like help to walk in my flippers.

I must say it was a relief to add some humour into a rotten few weeks. My home help lady is taking me to the surgery tomorrow and if all goes to plan I should be ok to take myself after that - the nurse thinks we might be rid of the dressings next week.

How's it going ferry23?
Hope it's improving.

Because you haven’t actually mentioned what the injury is it makes it difficult to make suggestions. If medical staff are using crape bandages to cover wound they are notorious for unraveling. It is possible to buy large sterile dressings from the pharmacy, then if necessary put compression sock on over it. Make sure you rest and elevate your leg to help with swelling and to avoid cellulitis. Take care.

This getting old business is a laugh, isn't it?

Old age doesn't come on its own.

Dear Ferry I am becoming an expert at all this. DH crashed the corner of the car door into his leg in March and has been having treatment ever since. It seemed to clear up after a couple of months, but came back twice and he still has it. I believe that some take years to completely heal.

He has seen abt six different nurses for the frequent dressings and each one seems to have their own way of treating it. Some insist on bathing with sterile salt-water, some don't. Some use silver-based dressings, some don't. Some say wash daily, some say no more than twice a week. We have enough different kinds of dressings to set up shop!

The compression bandage/stocking/binders are to improve blood flow so that healing is encouraged. Sometimes these can be very tight - if your's is falling down it isn't tight enough. But don't let it get too tight under/behind the knee or you could cut off the flow of blood back to your heart. Tightness at the ankle end is more important.

I must say that our surgery nurses and those at the wound clinic are superb in every way. I must tell them so. No idea about home visits cos DH drives himself there usually with no problem.

He already wore extra-wide shoes/slippers anyway so that hasn't been an issue for him.

This getting old business is a laugh, isn't it?

Good luck.

Oh what a rotten time you've had Ferry, no advice I'm afraid, just wanted to say I'm thinking of you. So glad you now have help

I find having the radio on helps in the long night hours
Esp phone ins and the world service.
I usually doze off and if I can't get to sleep it's good to hear some talking.
You did well to summon a home help.
And she sounds a goody.
Would she be open to doing some care type tasks ?
How did you find her ?
All the best. Hope you feel better soon.

I have had to order a pair of velcro othorpaedic slippers (even though I only need one)
I was given just one of those many years ago when I had a toe straightened. Because I got bored at home after a week or so, I went to work wearing this and with a walking stick. Probably shouldn't have done but it wasn't far and I could sit down at work.

You're all lovely, thank you.

There's no question you all helped to lift my mood plus excellent advice. I do dread the long hours of darkness in the winter and it's very comforting to feel you're not completely alone - even if it is only a "virtual" platform - but still very real people.

I've just made a belated new year resolution to remember to be kind - it makes such a difference.

You do have to be careful not to make anything too tight in a band around your leg.

Really, the experts should be able to get it just right. The Goldilocks method - not too loose, not too tight!

I'm glad the person who came to help today was good, she sounds very efficient.
And you have a cleaner anyway so one less worry.

If you're worried, though, don't wait until Tuesday and phone the surgery.

NonGrannyMoll

If you have any undamaged skin above the dressing, you could try running a self-adhesive elastic sports bandage just around the top of the dressing, connecting your skin to the dressing all around. I did that when I injured my shin a while ago and it worked OK (but no more than JUST OK - I had to stay as still as possible for several weeks). Hard though it is, you need to wait it out until the wound is healing up - no unnecessary toing and froing. Try to stay patient if you can. I wish I could send you a roll of elastic sports tape, as I had to buy a 6-pack (from Amazon) and have loads left over.

That's useful, thank you. I'll look that up on Amazon and get some, OK is ok - better than nothing at all!

It does seem that legs and feet really don't like being bandaged.

If you have any undamaged skin above the dressing, you could try running a self-adhesive elastic sports bandage just around the top of the dressing, connecting your skin to the dressing all around. I did that when I injured my shin a while ago and it worked OK (but no more than JUST OK - I had to stay as still as possible for several weeks). Hard though it is, you need to wait it out until the wound is healing up - no unnecessary toing and froing. Try to stay patient if you can. I wish I could send you a roll of elastic sports tape, as I had to buy a 6-pack (from Amazon) and have loads left over.

Glad to hear you’re a bit more upbeat today ferry23. That was good you had company and support for a little while although unfortunate you had to pay for it.

You mentioned that you will see a doctor when you go for your dressing change on Tuesday. I think you should take that opportunity to tell the doctor that you live alone and are currently struggling to cope.

Tell them that it’s not always possible to find someone to transport you to the surgery and ask the doctor to arrange for you to be visited by the district nurse for future dressing changes.

Thanks again everyone.

The lady who came to help out this morning was brilliant. She completely cleared out all the rotten old Xmas stuff from my fridge and gave it a clean, while I sat on a chair in the kitchen and directed! She got rid of all my rubbish, tidied my lounge and got some bits out of the garage freezer for me. Put away the last bits of Sunday's Sainsbury delivery which I hadn't been able to do.

She's an ex Care Assistant so she kindly re-jigged all the bunched up bits of bandages around my foot as best she could and put a pop sock over the front half of my foot so while it's not ideal, it is marginally better.

Sue I think it might be a compression bandage, not stocking - I've never had anything like this before so I'm not too sure of the different types of dressings and bandages etc.

I will be seeing a Doctor when I go for the dressings change next Tuesday and my cousin is taking me for my appointment on Friday. The home help lady can take me to appointments so although it's a very expensive way of getting there, at least I know I don't have to battle there alone.

My normal cleaning lady comes tomorrow for the first since before Xmas so hopefully by tomorrow afternoon I'll be a bit closer to my "normal."

And it was nice to have a real person around to talk to for a bit this morning.

My partner has had leg ulcers for years. When his dressings are changed, the District Nurses cover it with a stockinette which helps stop bed clothes dragging.
Another thing to remember- when a wound is healing, one of the last layers to regenerate are the nerves, they take a while, but when they become active, they can really hurt. Gabapentine is often prescribed for nerve pain.

Not knowing what the wound is like, I just Googled 'leg wound and dressings' - lots to learn there. If you are up to it I'd say follow a search like that and see what you can learn. Good luck and patience.

What part of the Country are you? Maybe one of the GNs could visit and give a helping hand - obviously not with the nursing and replacing bandages.

I gashed my leg a few weeks ago on a coal bucket handle - couldn’t do it again if I tried 🙄 It didn’t heal initially and I’m on my 3rd week on compression bandages… thankfully working brilliantly and hopefully just a couple more weeks to go. I took a pair of trainers without laces to the first compression appointment and bought a pair of larger slippers in the sales.
If the nurse is using a compression stocking on your leg you could ask her to use compression bandages instead? They are meant to be tight but mine have only moved minimally during the week between having them changed.

What Pascal30 said ...

This sounds a very difficult with good advise from others on here.. I don't know why the nurse had to cut your shoe, surely a plastic bag could have been used..

If you can't get a nurse to visit, I wonder if the Red Cross have any nurse volunteers or if Age Concern can help.. or even offer advise?

If you do have lymphoedema please ask to be referred to a nurse-led clinic as I was and you will receive proper care.

Good for you, paying for a home help to come in, you’ll feel better when everything is tidy.
I hope your leg gets better soon and let us know how you are getting on.

Have you tried using tubi-grip? Comes in a variety of sizes and you just cut off the length you need. If the wound is foot/lower leg you could use a length the reaches above your knee which might help.