Tunneling Wound

[buck]

Any info that may help heal a tunneling wound and the tissue involved. It has been going on for some time.

 

[Reload]

Sepsis comes to mind. A tunneling wound in most circumstances requires antibiotics and regular thorough cleanings (2-3x/day wet to dry) as it needs to heal from the inside out. Depth/size come into play. The last thing you want is something stage 4 that develops into Osteomyelitis. Significant tissue necrosis may require a wound vac and possibly a skin graft or flap. This is not something to put off seeing a specialist about.

 

[MAD_SCIENTIST]

Damn...what started it? And where is it located on you?


MS

 

[cage99]

Any info that may help heal a tunneling wound and the tissue involved. It has been going on for some time.

How did this occur?

Cage

 

[buck]

Sepsis comes to mind. A tunneling wound in most circumstances requires antibiotics and regular thorough cleanings (2-3x/day wet to dry) as it needs to heal from the inside out. Depth/size come into play. The last thing you want is something stage 4 that develops into Osteomyelitis. Significant tissue necrosis may require a wound vac and possibly a skin graft or flap. This is not something to put off seeing a specialist about.

I have been dealing with this through a Dr for 8 months. Been doing all the medically standard things.
Cleaning regularly, wound vac early on, antibiotics on and off as test results shown they are needed are all on going. I upped my T dose some and it started healing a little quicker but not much. I added HGH recently as I don't see it doing harm at low dose.

How did this occur?

Cage

Seat belt from a car wreck. Seat belt grabbed the skin and when the body slid forward the tissue between the skin and muscle sheared. Which ended up leading to swelling and an infection a couple months later. Then surgery to get rid of the hematoma. Which lead to where I am now.

 

[Gunsmith]

If it's still growing they probably need to go in and abate all the infected tissue and pack it with an antibiotic Gause.
We had a guy overseas that cut himself on a piece of steel and it got infected after a week the wound grew and our medic sent him out for surgery. He ended up having a wound vac for weeks then Gause packing 2x a day for several more and the wound steady got smaller and smaller.

 

[buck]

If it's still growing they probably need to go in and abate all the infected tissue and pack it with an antibiotic Gause.
We had a guy overseas that cut himself on a piece of steel and it got infected after a week the wound grew and our medic sent him out for surgery. He ended up having a wound vac for weeks then Gause packing 2x a day for several more and the wound steady got smaller and smaller.

I had a wound vac for a month last year. And have been been packing the wound with medicated gauze 2x a day for 8 months. The original wound was from cleaning up the hematoma. The incision was 4 inches long and was 4 inches deep. For the upper hematoma and much smaller for the lower one. The upper became invaginated(which I have tried to have fun with). The tunnels now are small in diameter, but still over 3 inches deep. And the depth is healing .1-.2 inches a week at most. And occasionally taking a step back.

 

[Reno911]

Sorry to hear about this. I had 2 pilonidal cyst surgeries where they had to heal inside out. Yes, pack it the best you can with gauze even if the diameter is small.

Another idea is to use a hyperbaric chamber. These can help tremendously with would healing. The difficult part is they are not very common even in larger cities and the home units are still 5K+.

 

[Reload]

Buck are you diabetic?
Some people heal more slowly than others. 3" depth is going to take time.
8 months does seem long to only heal 1" so far. Sounds like it is healing though.
Is this around your L shoulder or in your L pec?
Might need to pull back on any repetitive "gym/work" movements
that might be interfering with the healing process due to torsion/shear on the wound.

 

[buck]

Buck are you diabetic?
Some people heal more slowly than others. 3" depth is going to take time.
8 months does seem long to only heal 1" so far. Sounds like it is healing though.
Is this around your L shoulder or in your L pec?
Might need to pull back on any repetitive "gym/work" movements
that might be interfering with the healing process due to torsion/shear on the wound.

No diabetes. Fasting glucose is in the 90's now and peaks around 120 after meals.
Have always healed faster after surgeries then Dr.s expect.
Right side about where the seat belt buckle would be. Which i assume is part of the issue although the surgeon never mentions it when i bring it up or if my my activity level is slowing things down. The upper one is about where the waistline is so there is more flexing and moving then at other areas of the body. I slowed things down for he first couple months then upped it as it wasn't healing well. But being recently retired(3 weeks before the accident), covid shutdown etc. and having lots of free time doing nothing is a strain on my mental well being so doing nothing is not quite what i am up for.

 

[MAD_SCIENTIST]

Sorry to hear about this. I had 2 pilonidal cyst surgeries where they had to heal inside out. Yes, pack it the best you can with gauze even if the diameter is small.

Another idea is to use a hyperbaric chamber. These can help tremendously with would healing. The difficult part is they are not very common even in larger cities and the home units are still 5K+.

Damn...where was the pilonidal located? Butt crack? You did the packing yourself?

MS

 

[Reload]

So in your R hip area. Are you seeing a wound care specialists or just your PCP now?
My only concern would be if the wound needed further debridement.
Sounds like your taking good care of it and would recognize s&s of further infection.
Might be one of those "patience is a virtue" situations that you need to grind through
one day at a time.

 

[buck]

So in your R hip area. Are you seeing a wound care specialists or just your PCP now?
My only concern would be if the wound needed further debridement.
Sounds like your taking good care of it and would recognize s&s of further infection.
Might be one of those "patience is a virtue" situations that you need to grind through
one day at a time.

The surgeon that did the surgery is a wound care specialist. He has been looking at it for 8 months.
The original hematoma starting this whole thing was 18 months ago.
Took them 3 months to decide it was not cancer.
He has been charging the insurance for debridement on a weekly basis.
He thinks there may be a lingering infection and doesn't want to do surgery till he is sure there isn't any. He is trying to get a infectious disease expert to give him the go ahead.
Last weeks gains went away this week when he measured them today. Pretty much 1-2 steps forward then 1 or 2 back.
I am just looking for non standard treatment at this point that may be effective. As i have spent hours reading up on the standard forms which seem to be being followed.

 

[Black Beard]

High protein diet, vitamin C and Zinc. Works all the time.

 

[maldorf]

Wow, I was once in a bad car accident and Im glad that didnt happen to my skin. I flipped my car over on its top and slid down I 75. The seat belt separated my left shoulder joint. My skin was ok. I was going about 60 MPH when I hit the cement divider wall and it flipped me over.

Your injury sounds similar to a degloving, only your skin thankfully did not come off. I once had a bad abscess that went on for almost 2 months and they finally went in for surgery and cut out all the bad tissue. It sounds like you already had that done. I sure hope you heal up soon. Any other bad injuries that you received in that accident?