14 DAY TRIAL // It sometimes happens that bedsores and other skin wounds take a rather long time to heal, especially in the case of diabetics, elderly individuals and people who smoke.
This in turn translates into an increased risk of developing a severe and potentially life-threatening infection, medical experts caution.
Ultrasound can speed up healing
In a recent report in The Journal of Investigative Dermatology, a team of researchers at the University of Sheffield in the UK argue that skin ulcers, bedsore and other similar wounds are bound to heal faster if blasted with low-intensity ultrasound.
Besides, the scientists say that, having carried out a series of experiments, they found that this rather peculiar treatment works best in the case of people who, because of their age or various conditions, have poor blood circulation and are, therefore, more vulnerable to skin injury infections.
The specialists go on to explain that, having investigated the matter, they found that low-intensity ultrasound can reduce healing times of skin injuries like bedsore and ulcers by about a third.
“Ultrasound transmits a vibration through the skin and wakes up cells in wounds helping to stimulate and accelerate the healing process,” they say. “Using ultrasound wakes up the cells and stimulates a normal healing process,” reinforces study lead author Mark Bass.
There is no risk of side effects
Since exposing skin wounds to low-intensity ultrasound merely boosts the body's abilities to heal this type of injuries all on its own, patients have no reason to worry about negative side effects. In fact, this treatment option might be preferable to the use of drugs.
“Because it is just speeding up the normal processes, the treatment doesn’t carry the risk of side effects that are often associated with drug treatments,” argues specialist Mark Bass.
The University of Sheffield researchers plan to carry out further experiments in an attempt to figure out which intensity ultrasound waves work best when it comes to healing skin wounds faster.