People living with chronic wounds face huge challenges to their well-being, including stigma, psychological stress, long and expensive treatment regimens, social isolation plus a compromised ability to work or conduct housework, perform personal hygiene and participate in social or recreational activities. Pain is the most common and disabling symptom, leading to problems with mobility, sleep disorders and a loss of employment. Odour is another of the most distressing symptoms for people with chronic wounds. Unpleasant odour and putrid discharge are associated with infection, particularly anaerobic and certain Gram-negative organisms (e.g., Pseudomonas).
Patients start to feel depressed and powerless, controlled by their wounds and ashamed. There is emerging evidence that chronic wounds can have considerable influence on the well-being of someone living with this condition. Patients are labelled as “non-compliant” and blamed for allowing ulcers to develop due to their lack of self-control, willpower, and an inability to make healthy choices. This may lead to feelings of failure, embarrassment, disempowerment, low self-esteem, and a fear of being judged. This prevents chronic wound sufferers from seeking help, discussing their difficulties openly and even following treatment recommendations.
The incidence of chronic wounds is expected to rise as we live longer, and conditions such as diabetes increase.
The relationship between poor mental health - such as depression and anxiety - and delayed wound healing is well known. If reduced well-being can inhibit healing, it should follow that increased well-being could bolster it, leading to faster wound healing and better mental health.
If a wound becomes infected, bacteria compete for nutrients and oxygen, the same components essential for wound healing. Bacteria also stimulate an overproduction of enzymes, leading to further degradation of the wound. Being diagnosed with an infection often provokes anxiety in patients - they believe that the infection is the beginning of a downward cycle leading to hospitalisation, amputation, and ultimately death. As bacteria proliferate they may form biofilms, which are slime-encapsulated communities of bacteria protected against the patient’s immunity and antibiotics. Ninety per cent of chronic wounds contain biofilm. It is suspected that biofilm is the primary reason for inflammation in the wound - this then interferes with healing leading to further non-healing and recurrent infection.
All wound treatment plans must consider new and improved interventions to promote healing and wound closure. This will in turn promote comfort and dignity, relieve suffering, and improve the quality of life for those suffering from chronic wounds.
Improving people’s well-being is therefore key to providing better wound care results. This is particularly important in patients where wound care has previously been unsuccessful.
One such new wound treatment is Trifectiv Plus Wound & Burn Care. Patients experience a dramatic improvement in their wounds when they follow the Trifectiv Plus wound care protocol, which immediately starts to improve their well-being.
Wound pain and odour usually improve within 24 hours of applying the Trifectiv Plus protocol to wounds. This in turn improves patient compliance as wounds begin to heal and patients feel in control of their situation again. Wounds often also contain dead tissue, which is a result of infection. A wound care regime must provide for the dead tissue to be removed from the wound so that healing can start. Removing non-viable tissue from a wound is called debridement. The type of debridement that happens under the Trifectiv Plus protocol is conservative, yet effective. We refer to it as wet-to-moist gauze debridement, and it forms an important part of the Trifectiv Plus protocol. The aim is to remove dead tissue from the wound without disturbing healthy tissue. This conservative yet effective debridement reduces the need to undergo risky, expensive, time-consuming and painful surgery to remove non-viable wound tissue.
When chronic wound sufferers see an improvement in their wounds, they become positive about their wound management again. Improved patient compliance leads to higher conscientiousness in self-treating their wounds. As a company, we advocate strongly for self-treatment in the home environment. This not only puts the power of self-care back into the hands of the patient but also saves them considerable time, expense and inconvenience as they don't have to frequent wound care centres for treatment.
Trifectiv Plus Wound & Burn Care is the ideal wound treatment product. It works in a comparable way to our bodies in healing wounds. However, this approach is more effective as Trifectiv Plus contains our natural immune molecule in larger quantities than it occurs in the body and delivers it directly to the area of concern for maximum impact. Trifectiv Plus Wound & Burn Care is non-toxic, does not burn when applied to wounds and can be used by people of all ages without any risk - including use on babies and by pregnant women.