Wound Healing Center

Wound Healing Chamber

J.C. Blair's Wound Healing staff offers a multidisciplinary approach to wound management. Our specially trained physicians, nurses and therapists work together to design innovative treatment programs specifically for your needs.

If you have a wound that has not healed, consider seeking help from the Wound Healing Center at J.C. Blair Memorial Hospital, dedicated to the treatment of chronic, non-healing wounds. Our staff is committed to identifying the specific causes of these conditions and initiating a treatment plan that is designed specifically for your needs.

Staff Physicians:
Molly Ettenger, M.D., Medical Director

James Schall, M.D.
V. Spencer Long, M.D.
Tammy Carlson, D.P.M.

The methods used by the Center have been successful in healing wounds that others thought hopeless, including many that might have required amputation.

In this Outpatient Clinic, located right on the ground floor of J.C. Blair Hospital, patients receive state-of-the-art, customized treatment of wounds that have resisted healing despite months, or even years of conventional treatment.

You may be in need of specialized wound care or hyperbaric oxygen therapy if you suffer from any of the following conditions:

  • Any wound which has failed to show signs of healing for more than 30 days
  • Any wound which has not responded to previous treatments or therapies
  • Post-operative infections
  • Slow or non-healing surgical wounds
  • Diabetic foot ulcers
  • Lower leg ulcers
  • Pressure ulcers
  • Chronic Bone infection (osteomyelitis)
  • Gangrene
  • Crush Injuries, Compartment Syndrome & other traumatic ischemias
  • Skin Tears or lacerations
  • Radiation and other burns
  • Failing or compromised skin/muscle grafts or flaps
  • Insect or dog bites
  • Frostbite
  • Decompression sickness
  • Necrotizing soft tissue infections
  • Lymphedema

Wound Healing Treatments

J.C. Blair's Wound Healing Center offers a variety of specialized treatments, including:

  • Doppler Evaluation of Pulses: Determines blood flow available to transport nutrients and medications to the wound.
  • Transcutaneous Oxygen Monitoring (TcP02): Determines the level of oxygenation available to the wound to promote healing.
  • Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBO2T): In this treatment, the patient breathes 100% oxygen at increased atmospheric pressures. This increases the oxygen levels in body tissues to aid in the promotion of healing and the fighting of infection.
  • Wound Debridement: An outpatient procedure that enhances the growth of healthy tissues in the wound
  • Wound Dressings: Each wound care product is chosen based on the needs of the patient. The proper dressing promotes the correct environment the body requires to heal.

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

What is Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy?

Hyperbaric Oxygen is a mode of therapy in which a patient breathes 100% oxygen at pressures greater than one atmosphere. To receive this therapy, a patient is placed in a chamber and then pressurized to their therapeutic treatment depth. The air we breathe everyday only contains 21% oxygen. Breathing 100% oxygen has limited healing benefits. Increasing the chamber pressure allows us to increase the healing benefits 2-3 times.

How does HBO work?

The increased pressure increases the amount of oxygen that can be dissolved in your blood. Increased oxygen in your blood helps to promote new tissue growth and wound healing.

What does HBO feel like?

HBO is normally painless. Ear fullness may be experienced as with flying or traveling through the mountains. Your eardrum is responding to the changes in pressure.

Are there any side effects?

  • Ear crackling
  • Lightheadedness
  • Temporary vision changes

Who needs HBO?

  • A diabetic person with a wound that is slow to heal, or is simply not healing
  • Anyone with a wound that has shown no improvement in 4 weeks or more
  • Someone with certain infections of the bone and skin
  • Someone with damaged tissue from radiation therapy
  • Someone with a skin graft that has a questionable blood supply

Treatment Time & Number of Treatments

An HBO treatment lasts 2 hours from beginning to end. The average number of treatments is between 20 and 40. A patient gets treatments Monday through Friday.

Special Preparations for HBO

No personal items are permitted within the hyperbaric chamber. Patients wear 100% cotton gowns and have 100% cotton linens.

Tobacco and caffeine should be avoided before and after HBO because they limit the amount of blood and oxygen carried to the blood vessels.

Certain medications can change the body's response to oxygen. So they may need to be stopped or doses altered during treatment.

 

We invite you to call

J.C. Blair's Wound Healing Center
Hours: Monday-Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Phone: (814) 643-8367