Wound Care

What is wound care?

Wound care at Advanced Regional Center for Orthopedics & Podiatry includes evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment of wounds on your feet, toes or ankles. Providers offer diabetic wound care and treat a variety of different types of wounds to restore your foot and ankle health.

What are common types of foot and ankle wounds?

Foot and ankle wounds that you or a family member may experience at some point include:

• Punctures
• Lacerations
• Burns
• Diabetic wounds
• Ulcers
• Wound infections
• Skin irritation

Wounds commonly appear on the bottom of your feet and can be painful when left untreated. See the experts at Advanced Regional Center for Orthopedics & Podiatry at the first sign of severe or non-healing wounds.

What are the risk factors for foot wounds?

Foot wounds can happen to anyone, but some factors boost your risk of getting them. Examples include:

• Poorly managed diabetes
• Nerve damage
• Walking barefoot
• Wearing shoes that don’t fit well
• Untreated blisters

Diabetes increases your chance of foot wounds because of the nerve damage it may cause. Numbness that is linked to nerve problems in the feet makes you less likely to feel pain during foot injuries. Properly controlling diabetes greatly reduces your risk of foot wounds.

How does my podiatrist diagnose foot or ankle wounds?

To diagnose foot wounds and develop an effective treatment, the expert podiatrists at Advanced Regional Center for Orthopedics & Podiatry discuss your symptoms and medical history. They examine your feet and ankles to look for signs of wounds and other injuries and may recommend blood tests, skin swabs or biopsies, or other diagnostic tests.

What are common wound care treatments?

Common treatments for foot wounds, depending on the type and severity of wound you have, include:

• Removing wound pressure 
• Wound cleaning
• Removing dead tissue (debridement)
• Topical or oral medications 
• Dressings
• Wearing a cast or brace
• Skin grafts
• Managing blood sugar 
• Surgical procedures
• Platelet-rich plasma (PRP)
• Laser treatments
• Shoe inserts
• Comfortable shoes

The Advanced Regional Center for Orthopedics & Podiatry team may recommend more than one type of wound care treatment to give you the best outcome. They personalize each treatment based on your unique needs and follow up with you to ensure proper wound healing.

How can I reduce my risk of wounds?

Ways to reduce your risk of developing foot wounds include blood sugar control for diabetics, not walking around barefoot, wearing comfortable shoes, and maintaining a healthy body weight. See the experts at Advanced Regional Center for Orthopedics & Podiatry at the first sign of a problem to reduce your risk of complications.