In a large multinational study, more than half of patients with chronic wounds said they experience pain during dressing changes "often" to "all of the time." And most of them (60%) report that the pain persists for an hour or more. Among six symptoms associated with chronic wounds, patients rated pain as their greatest concern.
Researchers surveyed 2,018 patients in 15 countries with chronic wounds. They found that patients with venous, mixed, and arterial leg ulcers reported experiencing more frequent pain during dressing changes than people with other wound types.
Some dressing types were less painful to remove than others, with soft silicone dressings reported by patients as giving "less pain." Sixty-five percent of patients said they took some sort of analgesic to manage wound related pain, but 21% said it wasn't usually very effective.
Source: Price PE, Dressing-related pain in patients with chronic wounds: An international patient perspective, International Wound Journal, May 2008.