Painful leg ulcers

Hey I have a reoccurring venous ulcer that I have had surgery to remove for the last 3 years this is my 5th year in having a venous ulcer. I use a mixture of Betadine and sugar under my compression wraps and change the compression dressing everyday! I walk about thirty minutes a day. This combo keeps my pain under 6 on the pain scale. It will also help keep the surrounding veins from becoming infected which will reduce pain. I warn you though it is pretty uncomfortable for the first couple of weeks of use but it does get better! I hope it helps you as much as it helps me! P.S. use confectioners sugar and mix it with the betadine to make a paste. If you are fortunate to have the ulcer shrink in size you can switch to betadine and Vaseline mixture which tremendously reduces pain and makes the ulcer into an inconvenience! 

Use Emuaid cream. Works great. You gotta change it 3 times a day. Google it. Also going to try Trusilvr gel in 2 weeks. My ulcers get use to one product so I change every 2 weeks. I see a BIG improvement in 48 hours with Emuaid cream

Hi everyone I have been reading all your messages with great interest. I have had a very large ulcer on my right leg for 3 years which has improved then worsened like a see saw. I have recently been quite unwell and have had quite a lot of antibiotics  my leg is better than it has been in a very long time the district nurses can't quite believe the improvement, I wondered if anyone else had improvements with the use of antibiotics. I do have an ulcer on my left foot as well which causes me considerable pain but looks like nothing compared to my right leg. It shows size is irelivent. I wish you all well, life is not easy...

Hi Coral I know how painful it is as I have had ulcers for many years but worse thing you can do is to let them scab. Get yourself referred by your GP to an Ulcer clinic they can try many different treatments to see which is best for you. Not sure if you have had a doppler but you will need one to see how your circulation is. A tissue viability nurse probably will also get involved. You an have a doppler at home if it is difficult for you to travel. Trouble with scabs on the ulcers you cannot see whats underneath and infection could be brewing which might be where your pain is from. But infection aside ulcers and compression bandaging is the worse pain imaginable. Your GP should be able to sort adequate pain relief just taking the edge off the pain is sometimes helpful. This is what I am on Paracetamol, Tramadol, Gabapentin, Oramorph (Morphine solution) and 10mg of Amitriptyline at night. Now each time your bandages are changes the pain will be very bad but with the painkillers you should be able o manage. Compression will help the blood flow and in turn the ulcers will heal faster. Having no compression on your leg at all could be adding to your pain. When I find compression too tight I have at times taken it off and put myself in a light K-Lite bandage and the pain was worse. You don not need rude nurses visiting you they should be ashamed of themselves. So get to your GP get referred to an ulcer clinic or they might decide you would be better going to a Dermatology Clinic as the deal with ulcers too and they can refer you to a Tissue Viability Nurse who is a specialist. Please dont leave the ulcers to scab.. I hope I have been of some small help. I have been in compression a long time but it does work. Been having ulcers on and off since my twenties and now in my fifties but I am my own worse enemy as wont give up the fags and wont eat properly! good nutrition is vital for healing. Good luck. Please don not be scared to ask your GP for a referral that's their job and they are paid very well. Good luck.

Hiya

I have had leg ulcers since 2011. One runs the length of my left calf and is as wide as my hand. I was sent to nurses twice a week who did nothing but redress the wound. After arguing and arguing with my GP, I was finally sent to a TVN (tissue viability nurse). They did all kind of tests on BOTH legs and decided that compression dressing was the way forward. They washed the wound with water and Epaderm, dried it lightly (all the time aware of the pain), put Flaminal Forte on the wound, covered it with Eclypse non adherent dressings kept it place with blue line and then a 2 layers compression bandage. It did hurt but less than usual and after 6 years of being told that little could be done, it was music to my ears when the TVN said he would close the wound. It's now 2 months later and the wound is almost closed and the pain is gone. Only a bit left to be closed (the size of a dime) and it'll be over. I have been told I'll have to wear compression socks and moisturize both legs daily but , hey, we all have to wear socks and ladies moisturize every day so why not men?! It's a small price to pay to be able to jump in a swimming pool anytime I feel like it. I feel like I found freedom all over again. Good luck to you and renember: whatever your problem, there is a solution. Keep complaining and arguing until you get sent to the right people. Leg ulcers are not a high priority so it's easy to be forgotten. Make sure you're not!!

No I am not diabetic. The wound is still not completely healed so it's not that fast.

Flaminal wasn't painful per say but the compression dressing was uncomfortable but well worth the pain for the gain

.I have had my leg ulcers for 5 years now and the pain is sending me out of my mind, my legs bleed and weep all of the time and I also have Cellulitis, all the nurses do is put bandages on, I do wish that I could get some help..

Scabs on ulcers isn't good. I found it more painful with the scabs. Emuaid Cream helps. It's a homepathic slow healing. Collidal silver is very good for ulcers as well. I quite like it but you won't get away with the pain. ulcers hurt when they come to surface and when they heal. I've been taking Tyenol extra strengh for pain. Ibprofen works as well. Make sure it doesn't interfere with other meds you are taking