Innovative Vein Care Program Offered At Lake Wales Healing Wound Center
by James Coulter
Do your legs swell due to chronic venous insufficiency, diabetes, or any other condition of the lower extremity? The Lake Wales Wound Healing Center has a new innovative treatment that can not only treat your condition, but potentially cure it as well.
The Lake Wales Wound Healing Center, located near the Lake Wales Medical Center, now offers a new state-of-the-art procedure that targets the veins that lead to edema of the legs and other similar conditions. The new procedure was announced and unveiled to the public during an open house hosted on Tuesday afternoon, with the very first patient receiving treatment that same day at 1 p.m.
Previously, patients who suffered from lower extremity problems due to venous insufficiency and other similar conditions had to undergo continuous treatment through the reulcuration of their faulty veins in their legs. However, such treatment was only temporary, requiring the patient to revisit the clinic and undergo the procedure again, explained Amanda Williams, Program Director.
Now through this new invasive procedure, the patient undergoes laser therapy that burns away the faulty veins that lead to ulceration and swelling, thereby not only treating the problem but also potentially curing it, she further explained.
“This is a treatment to help them prevent that recurring cycle, because not only do we want to heal the wound, we want to heal the disease process that causes the wounds,” she said. “This is an invasive procedure. The patient leaves with a compression wrap and a little needle poke. Now they have a cure for their ongoing needs.”
Dr. Fred Howard, a general surgeon by trade who has been working at the center for the past eight years, explained that such conditions are caused through venous insufficiency, wherein the valves within the veins break down, causing blood to pool and the legs to swell with ulcerations.
Previously, these conditions were treated through vein stripping, in which the veins were surgically removed. Now, thanks to breakthroughs in technology, lasers can burn away the offending veins through minimal surgery, he said.
“[It’s] a way to destroy the vein without getting really invasive,” he said. “That is what we are able to do it here, and we are excited to offer it here…this is another way that we will be able to keep these legs in good shape, to keep patients from coming back time and again, to help them stay in shape for an extended period of time.”
The Lake Wales Healing Wound Center has been operating for the past nine years and has resided within its new location near the hospital since last December. The Center treats ulcers, radiation injuries, and other wounds through the latest cutting-edge technology and procedures such as laser oxygen therapy, skin substitutes, and vascular testing.
Due to high-quality treatment and standards, the center has been recognized with awards such as Center of Excellence Award, which it has received for the seventh consecutive year this year.
“Our patients can speak for it, we are a family here, and we make our patients part of our family,” Williams said. “So it is patients coming to a facility they are comfortable with.”
As for the new procedure, expectations remain high that it will help heal patients of their ailments in a safe and timely manner, and in doing so, improve the center’s overall healing rate, which is already at a high 90 percent rate, explained Maryemma Bachelder, Community Relations Director.
“This is yet another technology that we are bringing new to the community that has not been available before, that is going to be able to help us help patients potentially save limbs that they may have otherwise have lost, and just help us heal wounds that don’t heal, she said. “Patients that will come see us, we will be able to heal them, and we anticipate this improving our percentages even more, and it will make a big difference in their lives.”
The Lake Wales Wound Healing Center is located at 451 S 11th St, Lake Wales, FL 33853. For more information, call 863-679-1986, or visit: https://www.lakewalesmedicalcenter.com/wound-care-service
