Blog Archive

Why Isn’t My Wound Healing? #7 Swelling Aug 23rd, 2019

Why Isn’t My Wound Healing? #7 Swelling   Swelling is the enemy of wound healing. Wound healing means that new tissue grows where the tissue is lost. To make new tissue, we need two building blocks: blood and oxygen. Blood provides protein and nutrition to build new tissue, while oxygen...

The Community Should Treat Youth’s Drug Problems, Not The Juvenile Justice System Aug 22nd, 2019

The Community Should Treat Youth’s Drug Problems, Not The Juvenile Justice System   “By the 12th grade, at least half of American high school students have used an illicit drug … and almost a quarter of high school seniors [use marijuana] at least once per month”, say Dr. Katherine A....

How to treat dry itchy skin in winter in two simple steps Aug 22nd, 2019

How to treat dry itchy skin in winter in two simple steps:   After shower, gently dab excess water from the skin. Do not let your skin dry completely. While your skin is still wet, apply cream or oil based moisturizer (not lotion!) on your entire skin. Moisturizers do not...

Why Isn’t My Wound Healing? #6 Wound is too wet. Aug 22nd, 2019

Why Isn’t My Wound Healing? #6 Wound is too wet.   Moisture in the wound is essential for healing; however, excessive moisture is harmful.  Normally, the fluid coming from the wound is very rich in protein-melting enzymes which help to remove dead tissue from the wound bed.  Because these enzymes...

Why Isn’t My Wound Healing? #5 Wound is too dry. Aug 22nd, 2019

Why Isn’t My Wound Healing? #5 Wound is too dry.   To heal a wound, the body starts to grow many different types of cells in the wound area such as blood vessels and builder cells (fibroblasts).  Many of these cells only grow when there is water.  When there is...

Why Isn’t My Wound Healing? #4 Too much yeast or fungus in the wound Aug 22nd, 2019

Why Isn’t My Wound Healing? #4 Too much yeast or fungus in the wound   Wound is wet, warm and dark.  A perfect environment for the yeast or fungus to grow.  Yeast and fungus, like germs, will keep the wound open for the exact same reason and mentioned above.  Common...

Why Isn’t My Wound Healing? #3 Antibiotics Aug 22nd, 2019

Why Isn’t My Wound Healing? #3 Antibiotics   Germs frequently form a slimy colony on the wound surface called “biofilm”.  Biofilm is a fascinating microscopic eco system that functions almost like a human society.  Germs produce different chemicals and operate cooperatively.  They protect each other by sharing antibiotic resistant genes. ...

Why Isn’t My Wound Healing? #2 Too Much Bacteria Aug 22nd, 2019

Why Isn’t My Wound Healing? #2 Too Much Bacteria   Interestingly enough, the human body has a larger number of germs than it does actual human cells.  This is a useful bit of trivia that can help us understand the microbiology of a wound.  When skin is broken, germs that...

Why Isn’t My Wound Healing? #1 Dead Tissue on the Wound Aug 21st, 2019

Why Isn’t My Wound Healing? #1 Dead Tissue on the Wound   Nothing alive can grow over dead tissue.  If you have a large gash on your skin – for example, after hitting your leg on the sharp edge of the furniture — you may see your skin rolled to...