ACCELERATE wound healing with this ‘space-age’ technology
It’s one of the most common… and most CRIPPLING… complications of diabetes.
I’m talking about diabetic foot ulcers.
These wounds can get so INFECTED… some diabetics require amputation of the lower limbs.
And limb loss can really do a number on your quality of life.
But that’s nothing compared to being sent into an early grave!
When weeks go by and wounds WON’T heal on their own… you may need to add a little extra oomph to your standard wound care.
And I may have just the thing.
SHRINK wounds faster than you ever imagined
Now, you may remember from school that all matter can exist in 3 different states – gas, liquid, and solid.
The most common example is how H20 can take the form of hydrogen and oxygen atoms… water… and ice.
What your teachers may have NEVER taught you, though, is that there’s a 4TH state of matter…
And that’s called plasma.
Plasma essentially forms when a gas gets transformed in a way that creates electrically-charged molecules called ions.
Ionized gas is usually very hot – two “real-world” examples of this “fourth-state” plasma include lightning bolts and the sun.
But scientists have developed a way to HARNESS the power of plasma in medicine… at temperatures that won’t BURN or BOIL anybody!
The result is called cold atmospheric plasma (CAP), or just “cold plasma” for short.
One of the most promising uses for cold plasma is on chronic wounds – that is, wounds that won’t heal from “regular” treatment.
I’m talking about disinfection… antibiotics… “moist” wound dressings…
And even some more “extreme” measures like redistributing your weight (a.k.a. “offloading”) and removing dead tissue (a.k.a. “debridement”).
Now, cold plasma’s temperature isn’t actually LOW, compared to our body temperatures – it’s usually under about 40°C (or 104°F).
But that’s just cool enough for our bodies to tolerate… and powerful enough to affect our bodies’ biological processes.
A new study out of Germany shows how this so-called “plasma medicine” helped diabetics with at least one chronic wound that had PERSISTED for at least 3 weeks.
When researchers combined standard wound care… like I described above… with cold plasma therapy, wound healing SIGNIFICANTLY increased.
In this study, that specifically meant 2 STUNNING outcomes:
- REDUCED wound size
- FASTER healing rate.
And all it took was a once-a-day treatment for 5 days… followed by 3 treatments given every other day after that… for a total of just 8 treatments.
One of the ways cold plasma appears to ACCELERATE wound healing is by generating oxidative stress in the form of reactive oxygen species (ROS).
Now, we often talk about ROS as a BAD thing… and something you should AVOID…
But it turns out that just the right amount of oxidative stress… in a CONTROLLED environment… can help STIMULATE survival mechanisms inside cells.
In the case of a wound, that means helping healthy cells OVERTAKE the damaged ones!
Other studies have shown this therapy’s ability to DISINFECT wounds… even INACTIVATING “superbugs” like MRSA!
This amazing technology has only taken about 25 years to get from initial discovery, to being used on real people.
And along the way, it’s even been tested on the International Space Station!
The German study I just mentioned was used a device called kINPen MED Plasmajet, which applies argon-based cold plasma with a precision tool that looks a bit like a pen.
Another German company, terraplasma medical, makes a different cold plasma device… one that simply ionizes the air… called the plasma care.
Now, this isn’t a DIY treatment – it’s just for professionals.
But fortunately, the application of gaseous cold plasma doesn’t require going to a specialty clinic.
Ask your doc whether this treatment might be worth a try for you… and whether he can provide it in his office.
To healing wounds with gas,
Melissa Young
