Tennova Healthcare Raises Awareness of Advanced Wound Care
5/23/2018
Health system marks Wound Care Awareness Week, June 5–9
Chronic wounds affect 6.7 million people in the United States, and the incidence is rising. Concern over healing-resistant wounds goes beyond pain and discomfort. It can lead to immobility and a decline in general health and emotional well-being.
June 5–9 is Wound Care Awareness Week, and Tennova Healthcare wants Tennesseans to know there are advanced treatment options available to address hard-to-heal wounds.
“Chronic wounds affect an increasing number of patients each year,” said Heather Hutchings, D.O., medical director of the Tennova Wound Healing Center at Turkey Creek Medical Center. “An aging population and increasing rates of diseases and conditions like diabetes, obesity and the late effects of radiation therapy are among the primary causes of healing-resistant wounds. If left untreated, ulcers and other chronic wounds can lead to diminished quality of life and possibly amputation of the affected limb.
“We see patients living with chronic wounds for a prolonged amount of time due to the lack of awareness of wound care options,” Dr. Hutchings added. “One of our goals is to help educate community physicians about which of their patients can benefit from advanced wound care, and then provide coordinated care to heal that patient’s wounds.”
Among the advanced options available to patients at Tennova Wound Healing Centers is hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT), a medical treatment which assists the body's natural healing process through the inhalation of 100 percent oxygen in a total body chamber. The HBOT chamber permits the atmospheric pressure to be elevated and the oxygen levels to be controlled.
“In many cases, chronic wounds don’t heal because oxygen circulating in the bloodstream—a necessary component for tissue to heal—is not available in sufficient amounts or is not able to reach the wound site,” Dr. Hutchings said. “As a result, healing takes longer. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy provides extra oxygen to accelerate the healing process with minimal risk of side effects.”
Tennova Wound Healing Centers offer the latest treatments and technology for wounds that have resisted healing. In addition to hyperbaric oxygen therapy, services include infection control, pain-reducing wound dressing, surgical wound debridement, treatment of burns, negative pressure therapies, and bio-engineered skin placement.
For more information or to find a doctor, call 1-855-TENNOVA (836-6682).
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