Jennifer Matthews: Gary Bennett is lucky to be back on his bike after spending almost a year in severe pain.
Gary Bennett: I actually thought I'd never be able to ride again.
Jennifer Matthews: A rare disease called vasculitis caused these painful wounds on Gary's legs, 22 of them.
Gary Bennett: The pain, it was excruciating. I couldn't even lay a sheet on it. I'm dead serious, I couldn't let a sheet on the bed lay on my legs.
Jennifer Matthews: But the treatment was even more painful. Doctors used a scalpel to scrape away dead and infected skin.
Gary Bennett: I had never had pain like that before. I guess the best way I could describe it is like having a tooth pulled without any Novocain or any form of numbing procedure.
Jennifer Matthews: Then Dr. David Armstrong told Gary about a less painful way to clean out just about any type of wound.
Dr. David Armstrong: It's not what you put on these wounds that heals them. It's what you take off.
Jennifer Matthews: The ultrasonic scalpel uses ultrasound waves to clear skin of bacteria and remove infected tissue, all without touching the wound. It lets more antibiotics reach the problem spot, so there's quicker healing.
Dr. David Armstrong: It's dramatically reduced pain and dramatically reduced the risk for infection.
Jennifer Matthews: Gary's wound have healed and he is back to riding. Remember, this was his leg before treatment and here is how it looks now, after eight weeks with the ultrasonic scalpel,
Gary Bennett's: I can't even describe the difference.
Jennifer Matthews: With his pain gone, Gary says he has a lot of road to explore. This is Jennifer Matthews reporting.
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