Pressure sores (decubitus)
Many elderly, frail or bed-ridden people and their relatives and carers will be all too familiar with the problem of pressure sores. Nursing and care homes have to be continually on their guard against them but all too often they arise even there and not infrequently they prove intractable in treatment or they seem to heal, only to erupt again.
It is now possible to detect pressure ulcers long before they become visible to the naked eye with the aid of ultrasound scanners - see the A1Med professional pages - but these are beyond the budget of private individuals.
Laser therapy has been available for some time but this usually
requires visiting a trained therapist. The areas which can be treated
by laser are quite small, so it is a long and difficult process, but
the latest non-laser phototherapy devices from Switzerland now offer much larger
treatment areas and give real hope to many sufferers. The lower light intensity means that they are safe to use without special training or eye protection and sufferers can be treated or treat themselves in the comfort and convenience of their own home. They can be used whenever the wound is clean and exposed and because treatment only takes a few minutes it can be applied conveniently between change of dressings.
Light therapy can stimulate even stubborn, chronic wounds to start healing. The effect can be remarkable and because all it does is boost the body's own natural healing processes it can be used alongside normal routines.
For further details visit the Chronic Wounds page.