Royal Wounds: Queen Victoria’s Case and the Calf Pump

This episode uses Queen Victoria as a clinical mirror to explain how immobility leads to venous hypertension, edema, skin breakdown, and chronic venous leg ulcers. It covers the classic triad—venous hypertension, valve failure or obstruction, and calf muscle pump dysfunction—and why ulcers often appear in the gaiter region with persistent inflammation and fragile skin.

The episode also outlines modern management: accurate vascular diagnosis (ABI/toe pressures and duplex), compression therapy when arterial flow allows, targeted wound dressing, and movement as medicine—calf-pump strengthening, ankle range-of-motion work, and physical therapy—plus edema control and coordinated vascular care, especially when diabetes is present.