Speeding Up Wound Healing

You don't really appreciate what you have until it's gone, goes the saying. While you normally don't think that much about your feet, if you have a foot wound and need to be careful walking, you suddenly realize just how much you need your feet to be in good shape. So, it's natural to want to speed up the healing of that wound so you can literally get back on your feet.

Air It Out

Basic wound care involves exposing the wound to air at some point. Think of the scrapes you had as a kid; after a couple of days of bandages, you'd end up walking around with the scrape exposed to the air. When you get to remove the bandage on your foot varies, and you should follow your doctor's advice for that, but there are additional things you can do to give your foot more breathing room even if you still have to have the bandage on.

First, for those times when you can't go barefoot or without socks, get nonbinding socks. These are made to be a little looser overall. They still fit snugly, but the material is softer and does not mark your skin like the elastic on regular socks can. You can usually find these among diabetic supplies, but note that they are not compression garments. Be sure you get the non-binding socks and not the compression socks.

Also look for open-toe slide-style slippers to wear around the house. Those will protect your feet while still giving your foot as much room as possible.

Watch Your Sugar Intake

The stress involved in dealing with a long healing time might make you want to crack open that box of cookies or bag of chips, but better wound healing involves watching what you eat. Watch the sugar intake and try to maintain steady blood glucose levels. Even if you aren't diabetic, keeping an eye on how much sugar you eat can help your body heal. Note that this is not a command to avoid carbs, necessarily; there's a big difference between a sweet potato and a toaster pastry.

Track your protein intake and ensure you get enough. Your body relies on protein to rebuild skin and muscle. Again, don't go overboard, but do try to get your recommended amount of protein each day. Finally, if you've been restricting calories, talk to your doctor about whether to temporarily stop that or not. Your body needs energy to heal, and creating an artificial deficit might not be the best thing right now.

Eventually, your wound will heal, and you will be able to move around as you did when you give the wound really good care. Follow your doctor's instructions and keep having the wound checked to see how the healing is progressing.

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