Wound Care

Jenna Wishnew, MD, FACS Our Services Wound Care

Jenna Wishnew, MD, FACS

General Surgeon located in Richardson, TX

Slow-healing wounds are highly susceptible to infection that can quickly spread to the surrounding tissues. Jenna Wishnew, MD, FACS, in Dallas and Richardson, Texas, is a leading expert in comprehensive wound care that accelerates healing. Dr. Wishnew is the medical director at the Methodist Richardson Wound Care Center, which is recognized for exceeding national quality standards with a 98% wound healing rate. If you have a wound that doesn’t heal, schedule an appointment online or by phone today.

Wound Care Q & A

What interferes with wound healing?

Wound healing proceeds through three stages that must unfold in precise steps. Each step in the process depends on supporting substances like oxygen, nutrients, white blood cells, platelets, and stem cells.

All the supporting substances reach the wound through your bloodstream, making blood supply one of the top problems in impaired wound healing. Other factors that increase your risk for impaired healing include:

  • Age
  • High blood pressure (hypertension)
  • Vascular disease
  • Nutritional deficiencies
  • Low blood levels of oxygen
  • Diabetes

Diabetes dramatically affects wound healing when blood sugar isn’t controlled. High blood sugar damages small blood vessels and nerves, slows down blood circulation, and affects the immune system’s ability to fight infection. Any wound on a person with diabetes is considered complex and requires a skill wound physician. 

What symptoms indicate my wound isn’t healing?

These symptoms indicate a problem needing wound care:

  • Pain that doesn’t improve or worsens
  • Foul odor
  • Thick, yellowish discharge
  • Ongoing swelling or redness
  • Prolonged fever
  • A wound that doesn’t improve in 2 weeks or heal in 30 days

The normal inflammation that’s part of the healing process should go away in a few days. Even if you don’t have pain or signs of an infection, like discharge, odor, or a fever, a wound that doesn’t heal within 30 days should be evaluated by Dr. Wishnew.

What types of wounds need specialized wound care?

Any type of wound that doesn’t heal needs dedicated wound care. However, these are a few examples of wounds that must have specialized treatment:

  • Diabetic foot ulcers
  • Venous stasis ulcers
  • Nonhealing surgical wounds
  • Ulcers caused by vasculitis
  • Boils or abscesses
  • Minor burns

What treatments might I receive during wound care?

The wound care you receive from Dr. Wishnew is comprehensive and holistic, as she teaches you about nutrition to support wound healing, offers diabetes education, and coaches you on how to care for your wound at home.

The services you’ll receive range from Doppler wound assessment, advanced wound dressings, and compression therapy, to negative pressure wound therapy and advanced treatments such as:

  • Sharp surgical debridement
  • Split thickness skin grafts
  • Bioengineered skin substitutes
  • Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT)

Oxygen is essential for wound healing, yet chronic wounds often have low oxygen levels. HBOT works compressing 100% oxygen to allow it to travel further into the wounds.  In addition, the high levels of oxygen supercharge the healing cells and are toxic to wound bacteria. This process quickly increases the amount of oxygen in your blood, making more oxygen available for healing.

If you have a slow-healing wound or questions about your wound, call Jenna Wishnew, MD, FACS, or schedule an appointment online today.

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