Nonhealing wounds, also called chronic wounds, can lead to further health complications and infections if not treated properly.
Compression therapy — which includes using compression bandages, stockings, wraps, and compression devices — can help nonhealing wounds close faster. The controlled pressure helps reduce swelling and encourage venous blood flow. This provides the right environment for a wound to heal.
Compression therapy is the application of therapeutic pressure to an extremity. The intentional pressure can come from a compression stocking, bandage, wrap, or device.
Compression therapy encourages venous blood flow, reduces edema (swelling), and improves lymphatic function, which drains excess fluid from tissues and returns it to the bloodstream.
Compression therapy has been known to help patients with nonhealing wounds by:
With the right pressure, techniques, and devices, compression therapy is a known effective treatment for multiple types of wounds.
Depending on your type and severity of wound, you may be treated with:
Compression bandages are usually meticulous, multilayered wraps around the affected area. They use a variety of materials and tension. The multiple layers create a gradual compression that is necessary to receive the healing benefits.
Most compression bandages are worn at all times. They allow for walking, as daily movement is encouraged to boost blood flow. Your care team may need to change your compression bandage during the week.
Compression bandages typically treat venous insufficiency. In venous insufficiency, blood pools in a lower extremity and other open wounds – most often in the legs – instead of getting back to the heart.
These machines look like inflatable sleeves for your extremities. When turned on, they inflate and deflate around your extremities, giving intermittent compressions. The pulsing sensations help move blood back to your heart.
This option requires you to be stationary during treatment, which can take 30 to 60 minutes, every day. Your doctor will discuss whether you need other treatment options alongside the compression device.
Compression stockings may be leg-shaped or flat-knitted. One method includes a compression wrap worn underneath a compression stocking. Most compression stockings are designed so you can put them on and take them off yourself.
Depending on your doctor’s plan, you may need to keep the wrap and stocking on for days at a time. You may be able to take them off at certain times.
Compression stockings are specially fitted to your legs. Compression sleeves are specially fitted to your arms.
Compression therapy is known to be the most effective treatment for venous ulcers. These slow-to-heal wounds usually appear on the legs due to poor blood flow in the veins.
Venous ulcers are most commonly caused by venous insufficiency. This is a condition that prevents blood from returning to the heart.
Compression therapy is the standard treatment for venous ulcers. It can also significantly improve the condition of other types of ulcers.
If you are struggling with a wound that hasn’t closed in over six weeks and is caused by an impact on blood flow, compression therapy can help reduce inflammation and swelling and expedite healing so the wound can close.
Most deep wounds should heal within four to six weeks. Wounds that don’t heal after six weeks may be chronic.
A wound may not heal properly when the normal healing process gets stuck in the inflammatory stage and fails to progress.
Research shows this can happen when key immune cells, such as neutrophils and macrophages, do not reach the wound. This often occurs because an important regulator, FOXM1, is underactive.
This problem is common in chronic wounds like diabetic foot ulcers. It can lead to slow healing, infection risk, and further complications.
While compression therapy is known to be relatively safe and effective, you may experience:
Talk with your health care provider about the risks and complications of compression therapy before beginning treatment if you are concerned.
Your care team will discuss the appropriate therapy for your condition.
Before any type of compression therapy is applied, you can expect your wound area to be cleaned and sterilized. You can also expect your doctor to inspect your wound, looking for any signs of infection or worsening condition.
Once the wound is disinfected and inspected, your care team will begin to apply the chosen type of compression therapy.
Even after a wound finally heals, it’s important to follow healthy guidelines to prevent new wounds from opening.
Some tips for staying healthy and wound-free include:
Compression therapy is a safe and well-known therapy for ulcers and other wounds. However, it's important to call your doctor if you are experiencing:
By UPMC Editorial Staff. Last reviewed on 2026-05-18.
