Wound Healing

A WOUND CAN BE anything from a cut finger from slicing potatoes to a deep puncture from a nail to an incision required by a surgical procedure. A minor cut from a clean, sharp object can be treated at home, but a more severe wound should be treated by a doctor or in a hospital emergency room. Controlling blood loss takes precedence over most other emergency procedures. If you are bleeding profusely while waiting for medical help, you should lie down and, if possible, elevate the injured part. Using a clean pad or even your fingers, press hard on the wound, or ask someone else to do this. You should seek medical help when:

• The bleeding can’t be stopped or is spurting, which indicates that you may have severed an artery.
• You’re unable to clean the wound, particularly if there’s gravel or dirt embedded in it.
• The cut or wound is large and gaping so that stitches are needed.
• The wound is on the face or a part of the body where scarring would be particularly undesirable.

If the cut is simple and clean you can treat it at home, taking the steps that will speed healing and minimize scarring.

If a cut is clean, you need to first stop the bleeding. You can do this by simple pressure: Use a clean cloth or gauze pad and press the cut for three to five minutes or until the bleeding stops. Then give the cut a final cleaning by washing it with cool water, using a little soap if necessary.

The next step is to use some kind of ointment to fight infection and speed healing. Many people believe that it’s best to leave a cut uncovered, but in fact any cut or wound will heal more rapidly and with less scarring if it is moist since cells regenerate best in a moist environment. A scab actually slows down the healing process, and ointments under a bandage will help prevent a scab from forming. Polysporin and Neosporin are two good antibacterial ointments. You can also use some vitamin E by puncturing a capsule and letting the oil drip onto the cut. Many people claim that vitamin E helps prevent scarring though I don’t know of any research that proves this; you can use almost any substance that will keep the area moist and apply a bandage or Band-Aid on top. If the cut is on a finger or in some awkward place where it’s difficult to keep a bandage in place and where you don’t really care about the possibility of a tiny scar, I wouldn’t worry about trying to keep it moist under a bandage.

If the cut gapes or if it’s in a place where you’re particularly worried about scarring, you can use a butterfly bandage, available at pharmacies, that presses the edges of the cut together. You can fashion your own butterfly bandage by cutting a regular bandage into a butterfly form, placing a sterile pad on the cut itself, and applying the bandage so that the edges of the wound are pressed together.

Often the most difficult aspect of dealing with a minor cut is removing the bandage. One way to make this process easier is to dab the bandage with oil until it’s soaked, and give it a few minutes to penetrate. Then when you get up the courage to rip off the bandage, the adhesive will have lost most of its power.

A cut can make you vulnerable to a tetanus infection. You should routinely have a tetanus booster every four years to protect you from tetanus, which can be life threatening. The tetanus germ is commonly found in the soil, particularly where there are farm animals, and in the dust of city streets. Any cut, particularly a deep one, can allow the tetanus germ to gain a foothold if you are not immunized. If you receive a wound and have not been immunized in the last four years, you should get a shot within forty-eight hours.

If your wound is more than a minor cut, you should know that your nutritional status can have a dramatic effect on your ability to heal. Many studies have shown that vitamin C can be of critical help in healing wounds. In one study, supplements helped wounds heal up to 50 percent faster. In another study, patients with bedsores healed 50 percent faster when supplemented with vitamin C, compared to patients given a placebo. It seems that any kind of injury depletes the body’s supply of vitamin C, which is essential to the healing process as it regulates the formation of collagen, the substance necessary to form new connective tissue. Researchers found that the blood levels of vitamin C among one group of surgical patients were down 42 percent three days following surgery.

Vitamin A is also critical for wound healing. It helps strengthen scar tissue and thus promotes healing. Zinc works in conjunction with vitamin A to promote healing. Without zinc, the cells necessary to form new tissue cannot be created. Vitamin E has also been recognized as helpful in speeding the healing process.

Two other nutrients are worth trying. They are vitamin B3 (or nicotinamide) and glutamine. Vitamin B3 has been shown to be strongly connected to increased healing rates ill wounds, as has the amino acid glutamine. Though the precise reason why glutamine aids healing is unknown, we do know that levels of glutamine are depleted by injury or disease.

NATURAL PRESCRIPTION FOR WOUND HEALING

• For minor cuts, follow the above instructions for cleaning and treatment.
• For more severe wounds, see your doctor or go to your local emergency room for treatment.

TO SPEED HEALING, TAKE THE FOLLOWING IN ADDITION TO YOUR DAILY BASIC VITAMIN/MINERAL SUPPLEMENTS UNTIL THE WOUND HAS HEALED:

• Vitamin C: 2,000 mg. or 2 g, daily in divided doses at meals and bedtime.
• Vitamin A: 10,000 I.U. daily,
• Zinc: 2:2,5 to 50 mg. daily.
• Vitamin E: 400 I.U. daily.
• Vitamin B3: 100 mg; daily.
• Amino acid glutamine: 500 mg. daily.

IN ADDITION: If you have a recent scar, don’t forget that it will react to sunlight more quickly than normal skin. I advise patients to apply a hypoallergenic sunscreen liberally to any recent scar if they’re going to be in the sun.