Wound Care Awareness

June is Wound Care Awareness Month, a time to communicate the special needs of those with chronic wounds and the variety of treatments available. This month-long celebration focuses on common wound types and the benefits of treatment options and prevention.

Nearly 7 million Americans are living with chronic wounds, including 2 million who are living with diabetic foot ulcers. In fact, 1 in 4 families has a family member with a chronic wound. The longer a chronic or non-healing wound goes without proper treatment, the greater the chance of infection, hospitalization or even amputation. As our population ages and conditions such as obesity, diabetes and heart disease increase, more people are at risk for non-healing wounds. These factors make the prevalence of wound care anticipated to grow 2% per year over the next 5-10 years. According to data collected from The American Journal of Managed Care, this results in $50 billion in annual Medicare costs.

Non-healing wounds limit the quality of life and even life expectancy. If left untreated, these wounds can lead to severe complications. Delays in care have caused amputation rates to rise, even more so during the pandemic. Early treatment is essential and results in better outcomes. Spreading education about wound care helps patients understand that non-healing wounds are treatable.

One of the innovations that occurred in the past 5-10 years in the field of wound care, is the growth of product development utilizing cellular-based and tissue-based products. These devices and dressings are implanted into a patient’s non-healing wound to revitalize the healing process. The cells may invigorate the patient’s own tissue by the release of growth factors to boost a natural healing course as mentioned in the PBS interview Healogics on Innovations in Medicine.

In addition to Wound Care Awareness Month, June 6 – 10, 2022, was designated as Wound Care Awareness Week. This was the 9th annual week and Healogics spent that time aiming to support the growing need for wound care awareness in local communities.

We are proud of our dedication to wound care awareness every day, all year long. Our ninth annual Healogics Wound Care Awareness Campaign is a way for us to continue to help, heal, and improve the lives of our patients during an extremely difficult time. Please help us spread the message of wound prevention, early identification and the need for advanced wound care.

Take care and be well.

Bill Ennis, CMO Healogics