Heel Wound Care

Heel balms or thick moisturizers.

Heel wound care.

There are many ways to perform wound care. Treat them by giving your feet a little more attention beginning with moisturizing them at least twice a day. We realize that these particular wounds are difficult to off load and allow the body to heal the wound. A simple method is to wet a piece of gauze with saline.

Present a unique difficult to heal situation. Heel pressure ulcers can be particularly challenging for podiatric physicians given the risk of complications offloading challenges and the compromised vascular status of high risk patients. Cracked heels also known as fissures can be a nuisance but can occasionally lead to more serious problems if left untreated. An open wound is an injury involving an external or internal break in your body tissue usually involving the skin.

Accordingly our expert panelists share their perspectives in providing wound care for these patients. There are simple principles that need to be followed. Advances in skin and wound care 21 6 pg. Wounds located on a patients heel either on the back or on the bottom.

Kazu suzuki dpm cws. The ulcer should have a wick to grow on. Although this is a controversial area that needs more research the current standard is to avoid removing stable eschar on the heel as recommended by both the 1994 agency for health care policy and research ahcpr and the 2003 wound ostomy and continence nurses society practice guidelines. I will suggest a simple form here called wet to dry dressing.

Careful evaluation including a comprehensive chronologic history of injury identification of the reason for deep tissue injury and effective wound care are the first steps to healing the ulcer. How do you dispense offloading devices for pressure ulcers of heels. Nearly everyone will experience an open wound at some point in their lives. Look for thick moisturizers eucerin cetaphil others.

Current standard of care guidelines recommend that stable intact dry adherent intact without erythema or fluctuance eschar on the heels should not be removed. Blood flow in the tissue under the eschar is poor and the wound is susceptible to infection. Their anatomic location angiosomes and lack of surrounding muscle tissue make heel ulcers uniquely challenging in the wound care field. The first line of treatment for cracked heels is using a heel balm these balms contain ingredients to moisturize soften and exfoliate dead skin.