What Are the Treatments for Foot Ulcers?

Foot ulcers arise in the form of a deep sore or break in your skin. Whether you're a diabetic or a non-diabetic who has a foot sore or wound, make sure you see your physician or a specialist. He can get you on your way to healing by treating your ulcer properly before serious infection sets in. If you already have a serious infection, he'll have you undergo the necessary procedures to treat your condition.

Basic Treatments

• Upon examining your foot with an X-ray or MRI, your doctor will determine the best treatment method. As long as you don't have a severe wound and have good foot circulation, your doctor should be able to clean your wound and remove all infected tissue. Your wounds will heal quicker if your doctor performs debridement, during which he will trim away diseased tissues. If you have an infection, your doctor will put you on antibiotics.

  Since your wound will heal best in a moist environment, your doctor will put a dressing around your foot to prevent further injury and reduce risk of infection. Keep the infected area clean and moist, and take only the medications your doctor prescribed or recommended. Do not use hydrogen peroxide, as that will delay your healing.

  Make sure you keep as much pressure as possible off the infected area. If you have an infection, your doctor may suggest you wear a total contact cast to relieve pressure. He might also suggest crutches, orthopedic shoes, a walker or a wheelchair. He even may suggest you stay in bed and keep your foot in an elevated position.

  In conjunction with removing pressure from your foot, you may want to try treatments such as bioengineered skin patches and recombinant growth factor gels to help the healing process. Bioengineered skin comes from human skin cells that grow in laboratories, while growth factor gels contain a protein that helps fill the ulcer with healthy tissue.

  You will need to see your doctor on a regular basis so he can examine and debride the area, and a nurse may have to change the dressing every few days. Until your ulcer has healed completely, keep up on the required doctor and nurse visits. Upon healing and to prevent future ulcers, your doctor may suggest you wear comfortable, well-cushioned footwear that will not place too much pressure on sensitive areas.

Serious Infections and Treatment

• If you have a severe infection, your doctor may have your initial debridement take place in an operating room. And, rather than prescribe antibiotics you would take orally, he may admit you to the hospital to receive antibiotics intravenously.

  If your doctor finds impaired blood flow to your feet, he may recommend you undergo revascularization. In this instance, your arteries' lesions are hurting blood flow, so a surgeon would bypass or implant a graft past the lesions to reroute blood flow. If you're a diabetic, the surgery will decrease the healing time for your diabetic foot ulcer and should reduce need for amputation.

  If your ulcer has not responded to any of the aforementioned treatments, you could look into infrared photo energy, which the Food and Drug Administration has approved for use in circulation improvement and pain reduction. Using this treatment, known as the Anodyne Therapy System, you are exposed to pads containing small diodes that emit monochromatic infrared energy (MIRE). The emitted light helps the blood release nitric oxide, which dilates the vessels and increases blood flow.

  You want to avoid treatments that the American Diabetes Association has not approved, such as cold laser, electrical stimulation, heat treatments and hyperbaric oxygen.