Doctors are rubbish at wound care<\/p>\n
Inspecting her brother-in-law\u2019s hip, she lifted off the wadded dressing to reveal the red, raw, gaping hole 2 cm in diameter where the doctor had removed an abscess. My sister briskly listed the unguents, ointments, and dressing that she would need before declaring that \u201cdoctors know nothing about proper wound care\u201d.<\/p>\n
My sister does.<\/p>\n
My sister works with bed sores and post-operative wounds and all sorts of sticky problem on patients who can\u2019t move around \u2013 the elderly and the post operatively incapacitated \u2013 sometimes both.\u00a0 She knows that a lot can go wrong after the first intervention \u2013 infection must be controlled, necrotic flesh needs to be dealt with and skin knitting must be encouraged; mobility of the patient must be supported and the overall health of the patient must be stimulated.<\/p>\n
A few weeks ago I went to the doctor with a sore toe.\u00a0 The nail had been half lifted off while out running on New Year\u2019s Day, up hill and down slippery slope and through ankle deep mud, the 10km Resolution Run on the Town Moor. That was more than a month before, and the toe really hurt. (I should wear a sign that says \u201cI have a high pain threshold so if I say it hurts then it really really does\u201d).<\/p>\n
The doctor did not look at my big toe and\u00a0its damage very closely.\u00a0 On the other foot he examined a little raw spot which had not healed either, and for that he wanted to give me antibiotics, but he could not give me practical advice for The Toe.<\/p>\n
So while the raw spot got nicely sorted out with topical anti-biotic,The Toe did not get better \u2013 the nail had thickened and become hard and was acting like a hinge, irritating the flesh and skin every time\u00a0my shoe pushed it. It hurt. I went back for a second appointment and tried to get referred to a chiropodist but I am not in a risk category.\u00a0 I can\u2019t get cared for by a chiropodist on the NHS.\u00a0 My doctor could refer me and it was a relief to pay.\u00a0 To go to someone who knows feet and toes because that is what she has been doing for absolutely years,\u00a0someone who\u00a0other people recommend.\u00a0\u00a0She cut and snipped away the dead nail and trimmed and scalpel-ed.\u00a0 She knows how deep to go.<\/p>\n
A week on and the toe was even more painful because what had been happening under the horrible nail was that the skin was cracked and the source of the pain – a deep split – was now visible.\u00a0 I went back to the chiropodist who assessed the hurt, got me a small iodine and paraffin wax dressing (for the infection and to moisturise the skin and allow wound healing) wrapped the big toe in a toe sleeve, strapped it down with a kidney shaped big toe collar plaster.\u00a0 By this next morning I was pain free for the first time in 44 days.<\/p>\n
Yay for experienced practitioners, yay for hands on experts.<\/p>\n
The experienced practitioner (this may be a tautology)\u00a0knows what needs doing and when it needs doing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Doctors are rubbish at wound care Inspecting her brother-in-law\u2019s hip, she lifted off the wadded dressing to reveal the red, raw, gaping hole 2 cm in diameter where the doctor had removed an abscess. My sister briskly listed the unguents, ointments, and dressing that she would need before declaring that \u201cdoctors know nothing about proper … Continue reading You have to do things in order to know how to do them, and when they need doing<\/span>