Wound Care

Your body’s remarkable healing ability usually takes care of everything from tiny cuts to broken bones. But when a severe injury or underlying medical condition slows healing, you need wound care from John Bollins, DO, and the team at Advanced Surgical Associates of Northern Minnesota. They offer highly specialized and advanced therapies at their offices in Hibbing, Duluth, and Ely, Minnesota, helping you recover from challenging nonhealing wounds. You don’t need a referral, but you should check with your insurance provider before calling the nearest office or using online booking to schedule an appointment.

When would I need wound care?

You need specialized wound care when you have a wound that’s infected, severe, and/or doesn’t heal in about four weeks. 

Slow-healing wounds and ulcers pose a serious threat to your health. These wounds don’t heal without wound care. Instead, the wound keeps enlarging, putting you at risk for serious skin and bone infections and tissue death.

What increases my risk for a nonhealing wound?

Wounds are often slow to heal if you have an underlying health condition like chronic kidney disease or nutrient deficiencies. However, two underlying conditions significantly increase your risk for dangerous nonhealing wounds:

Diabetes

High blood sugar damages blood vessels and nerves, usually beginning in your feet. Damaged nerves cause numbness, so you can’t feel tiny cuts or bruises on your feet or pressure from your shoes that breaks down your skin.

The small cuts can’t heal without a good blood supply. As a result, they quickly turn into diabetic foot ulcers that need intensive wound care to heal.

Blood vessel diseases

Peripheral artery disease (PAD) develops when cholesterol plaque builds up and blocks the arteries in your legs. Chronic venous insufficiency begins when valves in your leg veins stop working, allowing blood to accumulate.

Both vascular conditions reduce circulation in your legs, directly causing nonhealing ulcers in your lower leg, ankle, or foot.

What should I expect during wound care?

Your provider takes time to get to know you and understand your health. They work closely with you to manage any issue that may hinder healing.

Nonhealing wounds often take months of intensive treatment before they improve. During that time, your provider offers a wide range of care, including advanced wound treatments that aren’t available from most general physicians.

Your wound care may include any of the following:

• Medication management
• Compression therapy
• Nutritional counseling
• Removing dead and infected tissues (debridement)
• Advanced wound dressings
• Antibiotic therapy
• Topical treatments
• Customized orthotics
• Vacuum-assisted wound closure
• Bio-engineered tissue substitutes
• Off-loading to eliminate pressure points
• Stem cell grafts
• Skin grafts

The environment surrounding your wound can support or slow down healing. The team chooses specialized dressings that create the appropriate environment for each wound.

Don’t wait to seek help for a nonhealing wound. Call Advanced Surgical Associates of Northern Minnesota or book a wound care appointment online today.

Proudly accepting Aetna, BlueCross BlueShield, Cigna, HealthPartners, Humana, UCare, Medica and SecurityHealthPlan