What medications can slow wound healing?

Corticosteroids, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and some chemotherapy medicines can slow healing. Don’t stop or change a medicine because of a wound; that is a decision for the person who prescribed it.

Three groups of medicines can slow healing: corticosteroids, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), and some chemotherapy medicines.

That is the whole list. Note the qualifier on the third one: some chemotherapy medicines, not all of them.

Before anything else, here’s what this page is not saying. Wound Wizard does not suggest stopping or changing a medicine because of a wound. Many of the medicines in these groups are treating something that matters at least as much as the wound does. The decision belongs to the person who prescribed them. The useful thing you can do is make sure the people treating your wound know what you take.

Medicines are also one item on a longer list, which is worth seeing whole, because a wound that is not healing usually has more than one reason. The list includes infection, which can make a wound larger and take longer to heal; diabetes; poor blood flow, which may be due to clogged arteries or conditions such as varicose veins; obesity; age, since older adults generally heal more slowly; heavy alcohol use; stress, which may cause you not to get enough sleep, to eat poorly, and to smoke or drink more; medicines; and smoking.

From a wound clinic’s side, the list looks similar: diabetes, poor circulation due to damage to arteries or veins, nerve damage, bone infection, being inactive or immobile, a weak immune system, poor nutrition, excess alcohol use, smoking, and a foreign body in the wound. Working out which of these apply is one of the wound care team’s jobs: to determine why the wound is not healing.

So the practical version of this question is not which medicines to avoid. It is whether the people treating your wound have the full list of what you take.

What to watch for

Do not stop or change a prescribed medicine because of something read here. Bring the list to the appointment instead, including anything bought without a prescription, since NSAIDs are among the groups named and are widely available over the counter.

A wound is considered non-healing if it has not started to heal in 2 weeks or has not completely healed in 6 weeks.

Wounds that are slow to heal may need extra care from your provider.

Wound Wizard is general education and cannot assess your wound, your medicines, or your situation. Your own clinician and your prescriber are the right people to ask.

What we look at

  • Reviewing the full list of medicines you take
  • Determining why the wound is not healing
  • Weighing a medicine against what it is treating
  • Building a treatment plan based on what they find

Sources

  1. How wounds heal — MedlinePlus, U.S. National Library of Medicine https://medlineplus.gov/ency/patientinstructions/000741.htm
  2. Wound care centers — MedlinePlus, U.S. National Library of Medicine https://medlineplus.gov/ency/patientinstructions/000739.htm