The Moist Wound Healing Method

Last week I briefly mentioned the Moist Wound Healing method in one of my posts, but didn't go into much detail, because I presumed people were familiar with the term.

My bad.

I later realised that unless you have read the whole blog in full (which is unlikely at over 400 posts!), you may have never heard of the term before. So let me go back to basics, rewind in time and explain what this technique is all about and how it worked for me.

To do this, I need to backtrack in time to the very early months of TSW. At the time, I had lots of swelling in my legs and I developed a "wet wound" (a phrase coined by blogger Juliana) on my left calf. Unlike other wounds which would scab over and heal, this particular wound formed thin, papery scabs which would rub off, leaving wet skin underneath. I tried various methods, such as drying the area out, calamine lotion, domeboro, epsom salt baths etc but NOTHING worked. Weeks turned into months and the wound stayed put. It was a mystery.

I then got a message on the Itsan forum from Rochelle (a healed TSW veteran), who was working as a nurse at the time. She asked me if I had tried the Moist Wound Healing Method. Initially, it sounded like something that went against the logic of TSW. After all, wouldn't a moist environment make the wound more susceptible to infection? But after reading a lot of information about it, I decided to give it a go. After all, nothing else was working.

The website Overview of Wound Healing in a Moist Environment explains that:

"The idea of moist healing was born in 1962 when George D. Winter discovered that epithelialization would proceed twice as fast in a moist environment than under a scab.
Cell growth needs moisture and the principle aim of moist wound therapy is to create and maintain optimal moist conditions. Cells can grow, divide and migrate at an increased rate to optimize the formation of new tissue. During this phase of wound healing an aqueous medium with several nutrients and vitamins is essential for cell metabolism and growth.

The wound exudate serves as a transport medium for a variety of bioactive molecules such as enzymes, growth factors and hormones. The different cells in the wound area communicate with each other via these mediators, making sure that the healing processes proceed in a coordinated manner.

Wound exudate also provides the different cells of the immune system with ideal conditions to destroy invading pathogens such as bacteria, foreign bodies and necrotic tissues, diminishing the rate of infection.

Moist wound treatment is known to prevent formation of a scab, allowing epithelial cells to spread horizontally outwards through the thin layer of wound exudate to rapidly close the wound. In addition, pain is significantly reduced when wounds are covered with an occlusive dressing. Concerns that moisture in wounds would increase the risk of clinical infection over traditional therapies are unfounded. The use of hydrocolloid occlusive dressings in maintaining a moist wound environment has proved to be a useful adjunct in facilitating wound healing. "

The doctor explains that when this technique is used, wounds can heal up to 50% faster, there is no scarring, lower rate of infection and no pain when the dressing is removed.

In addition to this the site contains some amazing, albeit graphic photographs of the process in action. If you are brave enough to take a look at them, please do, as they are awe inspiring. There are cases of burns, scalds and bloody wounds, all treated with this method and the skin returned to a near perfect state.

So how did I get on with the moist wound method? Well again, a picture says a thousand words, so I will show you the process from beginning to end. Sorry about the different lighting in the pictures, by the way, but it is still easy to see the overall effect of the treatment.

 

 

 

Cool huh? The moist environment caused the skin to repair itself without forming a scab. The whole process was amazing to witness.

 

The healing happened quite quickly once I'd started the dressings and my skin has been perfect in that area ever since, with no recurrence of symptoms,

 

How I Did the Moist Wound Technique

 

I would carefully clean the area with a wipe and then apply a generous layer of vaseline of 50/50 white soft paraffin/liquid paraffin. I would then apply a dressing pad, like the type you can get from any pharmacy. I secured the pad to the skin with microporous tape.

 

I would change the dressing frequently to avoid maceration due to accumulated ooze.

 

Moist wound healing is even easier if you use the hydrocolloid dressings available nowadays, although they can be a bit expensive and I found the vaseline technique worked just fine for me. I did try the newer hydrocolloid gels (not to be confused with the dressings), but didn't find them as good as the vaseline as they can dry onto the skin and stick the dressing to the skin. Ouch!

 

If you want to read more about this technique, here are some useful links:

 

http://www.realself.com/mohs-surgery/answers/vaseline

 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8109679

As with all of my blogposts, I leave it to the reader to form their own opinions based on the evidence presented. I am not a doctor and do not wish to give advice or opinion on how individuals should treat their own personal TSW symptoms. I am just sharing my experiences in the hope that someone may find it useful.