Leg ulcer – healing with muscle stimulation
A leg ulcer is a wound on your lower leg that does not heal or heals only very slowly. In 80–90% of cases it appears as a consequence of varicose vein disease and/or diabetes, and less commonly it has an arterial origin. The skin thins and a shallow “pit” forms. Healing is extremely slow, and if it does heal, it tends to recur. You can read countless articles about this, but they rarely mention what you can do yourself to improve recovery at home.
How does wound healing happen?
When you accidentally cut your finger, you may have noticed that the wound closed in 2–3 days and a week later it seemed as if it had never been there — it was healed. But why?
Your body has a fantastic self-healing ability. An injury sends a signal to your defense system. First, the clotting system responsible for stopping bleeding kicks in and seals off the cut blood vessels. That stops the bleeding.
After that, blood flow increases in the injured area. This brings many white blood cells that destroy pathogens and foreign material that entered the wound. Fresh blood is rich in oxygen and nutrients, which are needed to form the materials that close the wound. Healthy blood circulation is a prerequisite for wound closure.
Imagine the whole process like a storm toppling an old tree in your garden. Normally you chop the branches and trunk, pile up the pieces, then fill the remaining hole with soil, level it and sow grass. In a few days there will be no sign of the hole left by the fallen tree. But if you don’t have tools to cut it up, don’t have the strength to carry it away, have nothing to fill the hole with and can’t get grass seed, the tree and the hole will mar the look of your garden for a long time. If a friend brings tools and helps, order is restored much faster.
A leg ulcer is similar. If your venous or arterial circulation is diseased, the poor circulation is precisely why the wound heals slowly. That is why you need to seek help to improve blood flow.
Did you know what makes your blood circulate?
You will find thousands of medical pages that describe every medicine, dressing and operation. But they rarely explain the most fundamental information or its importance.
Your blood circulates continuously throughout your life. Your heart pumps blood into your arteries, which reaches every cell of your body. Your veins and lymphatic vessels collect it back, but it is the pumping action of your muscles that returns it to your heart.
Some of your muscle fibers (10–15%) are constantly in a contracted state. Even if you don’t feel it, this muscle tone pumps blood, even during sleep.
When you get up and start moving, that baseline is not enough. More blood goes into your limbs, and in an upright position it is harder to return it to your heart. That is why you need movement.
During everyday activities your muscles contract. They squeeze blood out of the vessels, just like you squeeze toothpaste out of a tube! While the muscle relaxes, the vessels refill. Veins and lymphatic vessels are designed with valves so that blood can only flow back toward your heart.
Little exercise = poor circulation
From the above you can already understand that if you do not move your muscles thoroughly and regularly, you create the conditions for poor circulation and thus for ulcer formation.
By sitting at your desk all day or in your armchair in front of the TV, you are voluntarily damaging your circulation.
If you don’t give your body what it needs, it will take revenge.
The best way to prevent ulcers (and many other illnesses) is regular exercise!
YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BE AN ATHLETE!
Take a 30–40 minute walk in the evening around your neighborhood. Hike regularly, do Nordic walking, jog, cycle, swim, practice yoga, do calisthenics, dance. It doesn’t matter which! The point is to move your muscles thoroughly every day.
This will “boost” your circulation. You can prevent ulcers, symptoms of peripheral artery disease and many other problems.
What can you do to help a leg ulcer heal?
If you failed to prevent it and an ulcer has developed, things are already difficult. Move as much as you can without pain.
If you can no longer manage to move, use a modern medical device to replace muscle movement with a functional stimulator, for example the Elite SII, which is suitable for this purpose.
With such treatment your muscles contract rhythmically, producing the same effect as walking or strolling. It stimulates your blood circulation and thus improves the chances of healing a leg ulcer.
Attention: if you have a pacemaker or an implanted defibrillator, do not use electrical treatment!
Devices to assist leg ulcer treatment
The healing of a leg ulcer can be achieved by increasing blood circulation in the leg. Regular exercise (walking, cycling) is very important; in addition, softlaser, compression therapy and electrical muscle stimulation are recommended.
Leg ulcer treatment with electrotherapy
You can perform this treatment very easily! Stick the electrodes of the muscle stimulation device onto your calf muscles, select the treatment program, then set the intensity so that you feel very definite but not painful muscle contractions.
The more severe the condition, the more often you need to exercise your muscles thoroughly. As you can see, you can treat even such a large ulcer! I have prepared a diagram showing where to place the electrodes.
During the first treatments your pain may increase. This is because the accelerated blood flow begins to wash out the accumulated toxins from the ulcer (poisonous substances produced by the decay of dead cells), which causes pain. Don’t worry! This is a sign that healing has begun. After a few days the pain will subside.
Healing, however, takes time; it does not happen in minutes or even days. But if you help your circulation, it will repay you with healing — just as your friend’s help makes it faster to remove the place where the tree fell.
