Three Benefits to Using Aquacel Ionic Silver Dressings for Healing Wounds

The technology of wound care and healing has evolved dramatically over the last two decades.   Science has discovered newer and better ways to improve wound care by speeding up healing time, reducing the number of necessary dressing changes and keeping bacteria out of wounds.  The addition of ionic silver to modern dressings by companies such as Convatec (as with their line of Aquacel ionic silver dressings) has been a major factor in these improvements.

Ionic silver has been used for centuries in various forms.  It contains antimicrobial properties that fight off infection.  Silver ions (Ag+) are bioactive, meaning that they can be acted upon by a living organism (like a microbe).  In the case of microbes, they kill bacteria and may even kill some viruses (though its effectiveness on viruses in currently in dispute in the scientific community).

The use of ionic silver was common a century ago, before the advent of antibiotics.  As antibiotic treatment for infection began developing, ionic silver fell out favor in the medical community.

Today, though, it's making a comeback in modern health for three major reasons:

1) It's thought to have broader antimicrobial properties.  Antibiotics are only effective against bacteria.  While there are a number of treatments that target viruses, most of these do not have the ability to actually directly attack viruses.  Instead, they merely boost the body's immune system so that it is better able to use its own natural defenses to fight off viruses.  By contrast, ionic silver is able to act directly upon certain viruses and eliminate them.

When it comes to wound care, ionic silver can be incorporated directly into a dressing.  The dressing releases it into the wound environment so that the wound remains sterile and the body is less prone to infection.

2) It can be used topically.  Most antibiotics must be taken internally to effectively treat and eliminate bacterial infection.  The medical and scientific community now recognizes that the increased use of antibiotics over the last several decades has resulted in the emergence of "superbugs". 

These "superbugs" are bacteria that have developed a resistance to antibiotics.  Bacteria that are strong enough to survive a particular type of antibiotic multiply and pass on those resistant genes to its offspring. 

The ability of bacteria to multiply rapidly means that these resistant bacteria become more prolific.  An entirely new breed of drug-resistant bacteria can be spread throughout the population with lightning speed.  Ionic silver, when used topically, reduces the need for oral antibiotics, thus reducing the opportunities for "superbugs" to develop at all.

3) It's proactive.  Oral antibiotics are administered to address a problem that has already developed.  Using ionic silver dressings actually prevents the problem of bacteria multiplication in the first place.  Most every medical professional will agree that it's much better and healthier to prevent infection in the first place rather than having to treat an infection that has already developed.

Aquacel ionic silver dressings and other popular brands have made it easy for health care professionals to employ ionic silver technology into their wound care regimes.  With time-release ionic silver built right into the dressing, both doctors and patients can be assured that wound healing will be faster and more effective.