Emotional and financial costs associated with stress and pain in two chronic leg ulcer patients

This article presents case reports relating to two very different leg ulcer patients. They were both interviewed to explore the emotional and financial costs associated with their chronic wound conditions. Their experiences of living with a chronic wound were discussed, and pain and stress levels were measured. As pain can be perceived as a stressor, potentially leading to depressive disorders (Wales, 2006; Coutts et al, 2008), the patients were asked to recount the emotional and financial costs associated of living with their chronic wounds. The case studies indicate that the financial costs to the individual and the health service relate to more than just the direct costs of wound treatment and include the psychosocial consequences of such conditions.