7 Myths About Chronic Wounds…and the Truth Behind Them

By Ned Swanson, MD, President & Chief Medical Officer, PolarityBio

 June is Wound Healing Awareness Month. For this Polarity Perspective, we’re clearing up seven common misconceptions that quietly delay healing — and what the evidence actually says.

MYTH 01

“Wounds heal best when you let them dry out and ‘breathe.’”

FACT

A moist wound environment heals faster and scars less. Letting a wound dry out and scab over can actually slow healing — with our reference from 1962, this principle was proven more than 60 years ago and is still standard of care today.[1]

MYTH 02

“If it doesn’t hurt, it isn’t serious.”

FACT

Diabetic nerve damage can make a deep, limb-threatening foot ulcer completely painless. Classic neuropathic ulcers often present without pain — which is exactly why so many are caught late and lead to significant downstream complications.[2]

MYTH 03

“A wound just needs more time to heal on its own.”

FACT

Acute wounds heal on a schedule; chronic wounds get biologically stuck in the inflammatory phase and rarely close without active treatment. Guidelines say reassess a wound that hasn’t improved after about 4 weeks of standard care.[3]

MYTH 04

“Antibiotics will heal my wound.”

FACT

Antibiotics treat infection — they don’t heal wounds. Closure depends on blood flow, pressure offloading, debridement, and moisture balance and ensuring the body has the capability to heal itself given the idela environment. Over-relying on antibiotics can delay the care that actually works.[3,4]

MYTH 05

“Wound care is just changing the dressing.”

FACT

Modern wound care is a multidisciplinary specialty — vascular assessment, debridement, offloading, infection and nutrition management followed by advanced wound treatments for many patients.[4]

MYTH 06

“Eating well won’t change how my wound heals.”

FACT

Healing is metabolically demanding. Without enough protein, calories, and key nutrients like vitamin C and zinc, the body can’t rebuild tissue — and malnutrition is common in people with chronic wounds. Optimizing nutrition is part of the treatment, not an afterthought.[5]

MYTH 07

“Once a wound closes, you’re in the clear.”

FACT

Healing isn’t the finish line — recurrence is common. After a diabetic foot ulcer heals, roughly 40% return within a year and about 65% within three. Ongoing prevention — offloading, skin checks, and routine follow-up — is what keeps a wound from coming back.[2,4]

THE COMMON THREAD

Chronic wounds don’t heal by waiting. Early, specialized, evidence-based care is what changes outcomes.

The pattern across all seven myths: each one trades active, informed treatment for passivity — and each one quietly costs time the wound doesn’t have. The encouraging part is how much the science has moved. What we understand about how wounds heal keeps advancing, and with it, what’s possible for the people living with them. There are exciting changes ahead for chronic wound healing!

Sources

1.     Winter GD. Formation of the scab and the rate of epithelization of superficial wounds in the skin of the young domestic pig. Nature. 1962;193:293–294.

2.     McDermott K, et al. Etiology, Epidemiology, and Disparities in the Burden of Diabetic Foot Ulcers. Diabetes Care. 2023;46(1):209–221.

3.     Frykberg RG, Banks J. Challenges in the Treatment of Chronic Wounds. Adv Wound Care (New Rochelle). 2015;4(9):560–582.

4.     International Working Group on the Diabetic Foot (IWGDF). Guidelines on the prevention and management of diabetes-related foot disease. 2023. iwgdfguidelines.org.

5.     Molnar JA, Underdown MJ, Clark WA. Nutrition and Chronic Wounds. Adv Wound Care (New Rochelle). 2014;3(11):663–681.

Educational content for Wound Healing Awareness Month. This material discusses general wound-healing principles and does not reference any investigational product.