Woundmanagement, where to go after wound heals,

[Aubrie StricklandStudent]

 

Poultice question…. One of my clients is dealing with a wound from a breast reduction. She has been thru 3 rounds of antibiotics with no change, she has had drainage tubes, those then started another infection, those were then removed. She had a gaping hole on her left rib cage as the surgery incisions go from just inferior and anterior from the tip of her scapula around her ribs, under her breasts to her sternum, and vertically up her breasts and around the areola. So the wound area is very large. A month ago she got fed up with infection, took herself off all her pain medications, and has not been given more antibiotics as the doctor doesn’t know what to do. So she has been using only manuka honey with an MGO of 200 something since then and has finally seen some improvement. But it should be further by now. That’s where I come in. We talked and I got her started on an immune tincture for internal use and a new manuka honey with an MGO of 829, as well as a wound poultice. 6 parts comfrey, 2 parts marshmallow root, 2 parts calendula, 2 parts flax seed, 2 parts plantain, 1 part lobelia, 1 part yarrow, and .25 parts cayenne pepper. She is on day 3 of this poultice and said the minute she put it on she felt relief for the first time, and was able to sleep without pain for the first time since the surgery. So she is really impressed.

So now it is day 5, and the wound has officially closed. She is watching for wound tunneling. I am waiting to hear back what her doctor thinks. But now my question is, since the wound has closed, and there is no more weeping infection, now where to go from here. It seems to me we should change the poultice up. I had flax for the drawing effect in there. Should we remove this, or is it still good for soothing purposes? The comfrey was to help heal the wound up, it is closed, so is this still necessary? It seems now we need soothing herbs to finish the process. There is still a slight redness along both borders. Thoughts?

• This topic was modified 1 year, 8 months ago by Dr. Patrick Jones. Reason: removed formatting issues

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Christine Haugh

[Dr. Patrick JonesHomestead Instructor]

You’re doing a beautiful job. I’d continue the poultice until the wound is completely healed up. I’d also continue the Immunity support for another week or so. A little redness along the margins of a healing wound is pretty normal in my experience as long as it’s not tender or inflamed you’re fine.

Don't use herbs or combine herbs with medications or use them during lactation or pregnancy without talking with your healthcare provider.

• This reply was modified 1 year, 8 months ago by Dr. Patrick Jones.

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Aubrie Strickland

[Aubrie StricklandStudentTopic Author]

So I will have her continue about another week on the immune tincture (using your auto-calm as she has hashimotos), and keep using the poultice (your wound healing poultice), after that, should she stop everything and move to scar tissue care (using massage techniques), or should she also use something else for a while for scarring? And she is still tender, but tolerable now. Just a little more clarification. Thanks

• This reply was modified 1 year, 8 months ago by Aubrie Strickland.

[Dr. Patrick JonesHomestead Instructor]

How open is the wound at this point? Is there still raw, exposed tissue or have the edges come together?

If you want, email some images to doc(at)homegrownherbalist.net so I can see where things are at in the process.

Don't use herbs or combine herbs with medications or use them during lactation or pregnancy without talking with your healthcare provider.

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Aubrie Strickland

[Tanzi LynnStudent]

I would love to hear an update.  I know it’s been a few weeks.   I was thinking an oil salve  of calendula and comfrey would be excellent to continue to apply after the wound was closed.  It would help with scarring.   I made a large batch of salve several weeks ago,  its equal parts comfrey oil, calendula oil & yarrow oil.  I’ve been making comfrey salve with other variations of herbs for a long time.   I’ve gotten good feedback on this particular batch.    please update us and let us know how things progressed!

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Aubrie Strickland

[Aubrie StricklandStudentTopic Author]

UPDATE:

My client is doing great. The wound has totally closed and she has since gone back to see her surgeon. He was blown away. His first reaction was a literal jaw drop, then said “how did you do that?”. She told him all about it and he was throughly impressed with what he saw. She meant to give me his info, he wanted to chat with me about other possible clients. However, she spaced the info so I have to still get that and make contact with him. But overall she is thrilled and so happy.

Thank you Tanzi Lynn for your comment. I wasn’t sure what comfrey would do to scar tissue. I know it causes acceleration in healing so I was worried about it also causing the scar tissue to overgrow. So I have just been having her use manuka honey at this point with some massage techniques to reduce the appearance of scarring. I also suggested some vitamin E oil as well.

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