Venous leg ulcer care in Affton.

Understanding venous leg ulcers

A venous leg ulcer is a break in the skin of the lower leg that stays open because the veins beneath it are not doing their job. Most appear between mid-calf and ankle, commonly on the inner side near the ankle bone. They are usually shallow, with an irregular outline and a moist red or yellowish base. Drainage can be heavy enough to soak through dressings and socks.

The skin nearby tells part of the story. It may look stained brown or purple, feel tight, hard or itchy, and swell more as the day goes on. Pain varies. Some people feel a dull ache that eases when the leg is raised, and others feel very little.

How the care plan is built

A plan for a venous leg ulcer has to work on ordinary days, so the treating clinician looks at how you live with the leg. Can you bend far enough to reach your foot? Do your hands have the grip to pull on a stocking? Who is in the house to help, and how often? What shoes fit over a wrap?

The answers guide the kind of compression that is ordered. Layered wraps applied by a clinician suit some people. An adjustable garment that a caregiver can manage suits others. A plan that fits your routine is more likely to stay on the leg, and compression only helps while it is worn.

Arranging this care in Affton

Homes in Affton are often older houses with upstairs bedrooms, basement laundry and a bathtub you have to step over. Each matters with a wrapped leg. Climbing in and out of a tub while keeping compression dry is a fall risk, and stairs may be the reason someone starts sleeping in a recliner with the legs down. During a home visit, the treating clinician can see all of this and suggest practical changes, and Gateway can coordinate ordered equipment such as a shower chair or a leg-elevating cushion. For long-time residents who want to stay put, those details matter.

Most of Affton is single-family housing, often with a few steps up to the front door and a basement below, alongside duplexes, garden apartments and senior apartment buildings near the main roads. Assisted living, memory care and skilled nursing communities serve the area as well. Gateway arranges visits from partner clinicians in each of these settings. In a private home we work out timing with the family. In a facility we coordinate with the nursing staff so the visit, the orders and the supplies line up with the resident’s existing care plan.

At home between visits

At a home visit, the partner clinician removes the old wrap and dressing, checks the skin, measures the ulcer and the swelling, and reapplies what was ordered. Seeing the home helps. The clinician can look at the chair where you spend most of the day, whether a footstool or recliner raises your legs, and how far you walk to the bathroom or kitchen. Details like these often explain why a leg is more swollen on some days than others. Gateway schedules the visits, confirms the day with you or a family member, and passes the clinician’s notes and orders to the others involved in your care.

For residents of nursing and senior living communities

A short rehabilitation stay after surgery or a hospital admission can be a turning point for a venous leg ulcer. Legs often swell more after days in bed and long hours in a wheelchair with the feet down. Therapy sessions, on the other hand, rebuild the walking and ankle movement that help veins work. Partner clinicians see patients on site and coordinate with nursing and therapy on details such as wrap changes around therapy times and footwear that fits over compression. Before discharge, Gateway helps line up continued visits and supplies at home so the plan does not lapse during the move.

Signs to tell the clinician about

Venous leg ulcers can become infected, and infection in the skin of the leg can spread. Report these changes to the treating clinician promptly:

• Redness, warmth or swelling that is spreading beyond the ulcer
• Pain that is getting worse instead of better
• Thick, cloudy or foul-smelling drainage
• Fever, chills or feeling generally unwell
• An ulcer that is suddenly larger or deeper

Call 911 for chest pain, shortness of breath, confusion or fainting, or bleeding from the leg that does not stop with firm, steady pressure.

Primary care and overall health

A draining venous ulcer asks a lot of the body. Protein is lost in wound fluid, and healing skin needs steady calories, protein and fluids to rebuild. Older adults with a poor appetite, dental problems or a tight food budget can fall behind without anyone noticing. A primary care clinician can check weight trends and lab work, look for anemia, and review diabetes control, since high blood sugar slows repair and raises infection risk. Body weight matters as well, because extra weight adds pressure to leg veins. None of this replaces wound care. It supports it, which is why Gateway can arrange both.

Primary care at home in Affton →

Arranging venous leg ulcer care in Affton

Setting up venous leg ulcer care for someone in Affton usually goes in this order:

1. You call 314-325-0126 or send the request care form, which asks only for a name and phone number.
2. Gateway talks with you about the wound, the address and the insurance.
3. We confirm availability for that location and gather records for the treating clinician.
4. The clinician visits, assesses the wound and writes the orders.
5. We follow up on supplies, the next visit and communication with your other clinicians.

You do not need a confirmed diagnosis to start.

People in Affton are most often hospitalized at Mercy Hospital South, SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital in Richmond Heights or St. Luke’s Des Peres Hospital. Gateway is not affiliated with any of them, but follow-up after a stay at any of the three can be arranged through us. A family member can call once a going-home date is known, and a discharge planner or case manager can send a referral by fax. We gather the discharge summary and wound orders, confirm the address in 63123, and arrange a visit with a treating clinician who directs wound care from there.

• County: St. Louis County, Missouri
• ZIP codes: 63123
• Nearby hospitals: Mercy Hospital South; SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital in Richmond Heights; St. Luke's Des Peres Hospital (not affiliated with Gateway)
• Nearby communities: Mehlville, South County, Webster Groves, Crestwood, South St. Louis, Shrewsbury
• Care settings: Private homes, skilled nursing, assisted living, memory care and rehabilitation

Other conditions and nearby communities

Read the full guide to venous leg ulcers, or see everything Gateway arranges on the mobile wound care in Affton page.

• Diabetic foot ulcers
• Pressure injuries and bed sores
• Arterial and mixed wounds
• Non-healing wounds
• Post-surgical wounds
• Reopened (dehisced) surgical wounds
• Surgical site infections
• Skin tears and traumatic wounds
• Wounds with lymphedema
• Skin graft aftercare
• Wound VAC (NPWT) follow-up
• Venous leg ulcer care in Mehlville
• Venous leg ulcer care in South County
• Venous leg ulcer care in Webster Groves
• Venous leg ulcer care in South St. Louis

Common questions