Christine’s Story – A Thorny Problem
“The intervention from Home Wound Care was critical. Without it, my wound wouldn’t have healed as well as it did in the same timeframe. I benefitted from treatment from a nurse who really knows about tissue damage, and who is a specialist in this area – all in my own home.”
Christine enjoys the outdoors when she can to stay healthy and active. Sunny days spent tending to her garden, together with a combination of dog walking, reading, and watching television provide the familiar structure to Christine’s lifestyle.
Unfortunately, one of her beloved rose bushes had other plans that would upset Christine’s usual routine.
The protagonist in this story is a vibrant yellow rose with a ferocious set of thorns on its stem. Christine was happily pruning her roses, when the bush attacked her viciously, embedding one of its largest and sharpest thorns into her leg. The pain was intense and immediate but once over the initial shock, Christine sought out a plaster to cover the wound. She thought it would be fine, as many of us do, and gave it no further thought.
The vicious thorns that caused Christine’s injury.
However, as time went on, her wound wasn’t healing. In fact, it was becoming worse, and this was having an impact on her mobility. She had to be careful when moving around so as not to bang the area inadvertently, and she became very conscious of where her dog was to avoid being scratched by friendly paws. Saying hello to the dog when it jumped up enthusiastically to greet her was replaced by a fear of doing further damage.
It was clear that the wound was beginning to affect Christine’s day to day activities and interactions on many levels.
After around two months, Christine decided that her wound needed to be seen, and so made an appointment with the practice nurse at her local GP surgery. Thankfully, the GP was very familiar with Home Wound Care, and referred Christine to us suggesting that she might benefit from joining a service evaluation. The practice nurse put her in touch with the Home Wound Care team.
The initial paperwork was completed swiftly. Liz, one of our fully trained nurses visited Christine each week for four weeks. She expertly dressed the wound and took photos of the affected area at the start of the treatment and at the end. There was a visible improvement in this time, and the area reduced in size and became much less painful. Once Christine had completed the course of treatment, she returned to the GP to have it checked again and to ensure that it continues to improve.
“If you have an opportunity to use Home Wound Care, I’d highly recommend it. Its excellent treatment tailored to your needs and will really speed up the healing process.”
“Christine hopes to get back to her normal routine soon, but she’ll be wary of getting too close to her roses in future. ”
Christine also learnt a few things along the way. For instance, she would never have thought of using a compression sock to help the wound heal, thinking that it should be allowed to breathe. In fact, the opposite is true. Compression therapy is an effective way to reduce swelling and keeps the blood moving more efficiently in the injured area. Leg wounds like Christine’s are typical candidates for compression wrapping because gravity makes it hard to move fluid out of the area. Using a compression sock limits the veins’ ability to expand which helps prevent fluid from building up in the affected area.