Chronic venous leg ulcers - success stories?

[justasmalltownmum]

Has anyone had chronic venous leg ulcers and had them heal?

Asking for extremely overweight relative that has a physical/ standing for long hours job.

Started with varicose veins and has steadily progressed to chronic venous leg ulcer.

Doctors won't operate until the skin heals but it just won't heal.

Constantly itchy skin, that looks purple and bruised.

Tried the ointments and creams, herbal remedies.
Any advice? TIA

I don't have any experience myself, and apologies if you've already tried this, but have you looked into Manuka Honey?

@Tomthumbsbigbum

I don't have any experience myself, and apologies if you've already tried this, but have you looked into Manuka Honey?

No we haven't. How would that work? Do you mean eat it? (Someone suggested rubbing turmeric into the leg :/ ).

Our district health nurse was applying manuka honey to leg ulcers. Please do check it's okay to try in your relative's case, first.

Dmum had ionic silver dressing and compression stockings. This combination cleared pretty horrible ulceration which she'd had for four or five years. Ulcers now been clear for upwards of five years - she still wears compression stockings.

Your relative needs professional treatment from a Tissue Viability Nurse or District Nurse. Treatment will probably involve compression bandages as well as special dressings. Please don't dabble

Can she be supported to lose weight also? And yes ask for a specific referral for the latest evidence based treatment options for her.

Tissue viability nurse review definitely, ideally keeping her feet up as much as possible, reviewing her diet and nutrition. The protocol at the trust i worked in previously was any ulcer went straight into compression, usually aided by a number of primary dressings suited to type of ulcer, complemented by a medication review by gp to aid peripheral venous function, and supported by patient attitude to advice on rest and diet.

Yes, do check with a doctor/nurse first. There's evidence that manuka honey dressings can help the healing process with venous leg ulcers. Lots of articles if you look online.

My husband suffers from these and the nurse at the surgery uses compression bandaging to help with the healing. Unfortunately she is now leaving and no other nurse is trained to do this! Generally speaking, leg ulcers take a very long time to heal.

The Manuka honey dressing is a real thing - it’s applied directly to wounds rather than eaten. Get some medical advice from a specialist (a tissue viability nurse would be perfect). There’s a particular compound in manuka honey that is antimicrobial. Honey with a high level of this compound (UMF) can be very expensive to buy. And there are many sellers of less potent Manuka honey who promote it as a cure-all. Anyone suggesting you eat it rather than apply it directly to the wound is probably selling you snake-oil. You can eat it and it won’t hurt you but high UMF manuka honey is an extremely expensive way to sweeten your tea and I don’t think there is any proof it provides any medical benefit whenbuou ingest it. The link below is for a study where they used a Manuka honey as part of a treatment for infected surgical wounds. ´Nature’ is a well respected scientific journal. www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-70186-9

My dad had these and after trying everything they used sterile maggots - they really helped. However I'd agree your relative needs to see a TV nurse

Thank you to everyone that replied. Will look into the things mentioned.

I'm a specialist nurse, is your relative in compression bandages? High compression and leg elevation are what's needed. Nothing else will make a difference.

Here is some NHS info:

www.nhs.uk/conditions/leg-ulcer/treatment/

As pp have said, they do need treatment from someone trained to do it.

I had one caused by varicose veins. I had the varicose veins treated (laser) and the ulcer healed up very quickly. This was more than a decade ago and I've had no recurrence. It has left me with very visible scarring though from the ulcer.

Manuka honey

Compression bandaging and leg elevation is standard treatment for leg ulcers. Good nutrition is important & a proper holistic assessment to look at other comorbidities and medications that could be impacting on healing.

Medical grade honey dressings (and dressings containing silver) can be used on ulcers that are not healing in the expected time frame, but I certainly wouldn't recommend putting on honey from a jar.

Relative needs to be under care of tissue viability and be properly assessed for suitability for compression. Also important to take on board any lifestyle advice such as stopping smoking, making sure diabetes is controlled, general good nutrition and plenty of protein.

As others have said, compression and elevation are what will make a big difference. I'm afraid the best thing medically would be for her to be signed off from work for enough time for her leg to heal.