Wound and Ostomy Care | MaineHealth Maine Medical Center

Good nutrition is very important to successful wound healing. Serious wounds need extra energy, vitamins, minerals and proteins from your body to heal properly. Our nutrition specialists will help you make healthy food choices that support your healing process.

1. The first priority is to eat sufficient calories from a balanced diet of nutritious foods. Plan healthy, balanced meals and snacks that include plenty of foods from all the food groups — protein, fruits, vegetables, dairy and grains.
2. Include optimum amounts of protein. Aim for 20 to 30 grams of protein at each meal and 10 to 15 grams of protein with each snack. A piece of cooked chicken, lean meat or fish the size of a deck of cards (about 3 ounces) contains 20 to 25 grams of protein. One egg, 1 tablespoon of peanut butter and 1 ounce of cheese each contain 6 to 7 grams of protein. One cup of low-fat milk or yogurt contains 8 grams of protein.
3. REMEMBER: Every ounce of meat or cheese contains 7-9 grams of protein.
4. Stay well-hydrated with water and other unsweetened beverages such as tea, coffee, 100-percent fruit juice and milk, which also contains protein.
5. Some wounds may require a higher intake of certain vitamins and minerals. A registered dietitian nutritionist can give you an individualized eating plan with optimum amounts of calories, protein, fluids, vitamins and minerals for your specific needs.
6. For people with diabetes, controlling blood sugar levels is one of the best ways to prevent and treat a wound. Work with your physician and registered dietitian nutritionist to develop a personalized blood sugar management plan.
7. Eat five or six meals a day
8. Make sure each meal or snack contains protein.
9. Take a multivitamin every day. Vitamin C and zinc are especially important for wound healing.
10. If you don’t have an appetite, add protein powder to any food that you eat or try a liquid nutrition supplement

Choose from these healthy beverages and protein-rich, vitamin packed foods to improve your healing process:

Compression Management & Lymphedema Program

Swelling in your arm or leg can be caused by many different diseases and circumstances. Each patient has unique needs and lifestyle preferences. That's why our lymphedema and compression management specialists create personalized care plans for each patient. Specific recommendations will vary by patient, but in general, we use a four-step approach: Compression, Maintenance, Procurement, and Surveillance (CMPS).

Compression: The first step is to stimulate fluid movement and begin to decrease the size of your extremities. The team can arrange for you to work with an MLD (Manual Lymphatic Drainage) Therapist to increase fluid movement and begin to help reduce your swelling. We may also provide you with a sequential compression device that can be used in the home, and at your convenience. Our team will guide you step-by-step so you are confident with the use and care of the equipment.

Maintenance: The second step is to MAINTAIN progress achieved during step one. Low stretch bandages are wrapped around the arm/leg helping to decrease its size and continue to move the fluid out of the affected area. Our team will teach you and/or a friend or family member to change and re-apply the bandages. We may also provide a custom-fit night-time appliance to help reduce swelling, while you rest. This ensures constant stimulation and fluid movement.

Procurement: Once maximum swelling reduction is achieved, we will measure you for a Custom Compression Garment. A custom-made garment is fitted to the exact contours of your limb for long-term comfort and compression. These custom garments, worn daily, along with continued use of the sequential compression device will help prevent further fluid accumulation and will help provide positive results.

Surveillance: The final step in the CMPS process is to monitor your progress every six months. During these follow-up appointments, we will assess your condition and check the fit or your compression garment. As time passes and your body changes, you may need a new prescription. We will take a proactive role in your condition management and make every attempt to prevent problems before they occur. 

Our goal is to improve your condition, your quality of life and your ability to manage long-term independent care.

Our practices provides high quality preoperative and postoperative ostomy care. Specially trained and certified wound, ostomy, and continence nurses provide education on temporary and permanent stomas, ensuring both patients and their families are comfortable and secure with every aspect of ostomy care. 

The goal is for patients to return to normal daily activities as soon as possible so that they may enjoy the best quality of life. We partner with patients and their physicians to ensure long-term care, support and resources as needed. Our services include:

• Preoperative counseling teaching: help ally patients fears’ and anxieties and provides an opportunity to ask questions
• Preoperative stoma marking: proper stoma placement helps patient’s avoid postoperative skin complications
• Postoperative care: assessment for change in stoma size, contour, peristomal skin health and need for alteration in pouching system
• Postoperative education: pouching system selection, self-care, and identifying and treating common stoma problems
• Problem solving: assistance with pouching system failures (leaking), peristomal skin loss/rashes/wounds, and refitting of pouching system
• Education and instruction in ostomy irrigation techniques
• Information about lifestyle, intimacy, diet and clothing
• Recommendations of complications such as peristomal hernias and stomal prolapses

MaineHealth Wound Care offers world-class hyperbaric treatment managed by a team of highly-trained physicians. Our state-of-the-art hyperbaric chambers feature:

• The ability to hear, see, talk to and monitor the patient during treatment
• Superior electronic voice communications system to ensure safe, uninterrupted communication with patients
• Extra-wide gurney that locks to chamber during patient transfer Patient Comfort
• 33.5” internal diameter – the largest and longest acrylic tube in its class
• Gurney is height adjustable for safe patient transfer and backrest adjustable from an angle of 0 to 57.5° for patient comfort
• Accommodates a patient up to 400 pounds
• Cool and quiet treatment Compartment 

The benefits of hyperbaric therapy:

• Stimulates new blood vessel growth and increases blood flow
• Elevates the body’s natural immune defenses to fight infection and bacteria
• Reduces swelling that may occur around damaged areas
• Speeds up healing by increasing tissue oxygen levels to areas in the body where they are reduced due to injury or illness