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A wound care specialist is a clinician — a doctor, podiatrist, nurse practitioner or specially trained nurse — who focuses on wounds that are slow to heal, such as pressure injuries, diabetic ulcers, venous ulcers, surgical wounds and burns. They assess the wound's cause and stage and manage treatment, often alongside your regular doctor.

Pressure injuries are staged 1 through 4 by depth, from reddened unbroken skin (stage 1) to a wound exposing muscle, tendon or bone (stage 4), with unstageable and deep-tissue categories used when the depth can't be seen. Staging guides treatment and how urgently a specialist should be involved.

Diabetic foot ulcers are typically treated with offloading (taking pressure off the area), regular debridement, infection control and blood sugar management, often by a podiatrist or wound care team. Because they can progress quickly, daily foot checks and prompt care matter.

Venous ulcers come from poor vein return and pooling blood, usually near the ankle, and are often treated with compression; arterial ulcers come from poor blood flow through narrowed arteries, often on the toes or foot, where compression can make things worse. A vascular evaluation tells the two apart.

See a doctor promptly if a wound shows spreading redness, red streaking, increasing warmth or pain, pus or foul odor, fever or chills, or simply isn't healing after a couple of weeks. Call 911 or go to the ER for heavy bleeding, exposed bone or tendon, or any wound with signs of a serious, spreading infection.

Negative pressure wound therapy, often called a wound vac, uses a sealed dressing connected to a gentle suction device to draw out fluid and encourage new tissue growth. It's a well-established option for certain slow-healing or surgical wounds, applied and monitored by a specialist.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is FDA-cleared for a specific list of conditions — including certain diabetic foot ulcers and radiation tissue injury — where breathing high-concentration oxygen in a pressurized chamber can help wounds heal. A wound care specialist can tell you whether your wound qualifies.