A venous leg ulcer is an ulcer that occurs around the ankle area. They are shallow and can be painful.
The cause: they happen when the veins in the legs are damaged or are not working properly, and so do not return blood back to the heart as well as they should. They are also called venous stasis ulcers, or sometimes varicose ulcers, so you may hear any of those names for the same thing.
That cause explains why treatment is aimed at the circulation, not only at the wound. Compression — stockings, bandages or wraps — is the mainstay. If your wound is treated with compression therapy as part of the treatment, exercise will help the wound heal.
It also explains why compression isn’t applied before the cause is known. Compression helps many venous ulcers but is not suitable in the same way for severe arterial disease, which is why a blood flow test usually comes first.
Day-to-day care for venous ulcers: always keep the wound clean and bandaged to prevent infection, and keep the dressing and the skin around it dry.
After it heals: if you have had a venous leg ulcer, you are at risk of developing another one. The most important thing you can do to prevent one is to keep using your therapeutic compression stocking, bandage or device.
Whether an ankle wound is a venous ulcer is not something to decide from a description. The cause is found by looking at where the ulcer is, how it looks, your symptoms, your medical history and medicines, and the skin around it, along with blood-flow tests such as an ankle or toe pressure test, and often an ultrasound to check the veins and arteries.