Pressure Sores (Bedsores): Causes and Treatments

Pressure or bed sores are common among the elderly.

Pressure sores commonly happen to individuals with mobility problems. Pressure sores or “bed sores” are quite common among elderly people or individuals that can become quite ill. As a caregiver it can be hard to deal with pressure sores as you are also focused on helping to care for your loved ones incontinence problem as well.  Leaving an adult diaper on for too long can irritate the skin, increasing the problems with bed sores. Proper cleansing of the skin is vital to helping your loved ones to manage problems with bed sores. Cleaning the skin is also vital as you do not want to leave urine on the skin as it can also increase the likelihood of urinary tract infections.

Identify Bed Sores

How can you see when you have bed sores or when a loved one has bed sores? Here are some ways in which you can identify them:

·         Discoloration of the skin. You will notice that this area looks reddish in color or it may even turn into a purple color.

·         Smell from the sore.

·         Swelling or oozing from the sore

·         Tenderness and pain

·         Pain that goes deep into the muscles

If your loved one is in the hospital the nursing staff will work hard to change the bandages on the bed sores to try and reduce the infection and they will work hard on getting your loved one out of bed so they can walk around. Mobility is the best thing to do for bed sores as you need to try and limit how often the person is lying in bed or sitting.

Risk Factors

What are some of the risk factors for pressure sores? They can happen to anyone but the individuals that have limited mobility are usually at the greatest risk for them. Individuals with incontinence often have an increased risk for pressure sores as well. Individuals with diabetes or with conditions that cause them to heal slowly will deal with bed sores. Dementia patients also are at an increased risk for dealing with pressure sores.

Watch this video:  How to choose the right incontinence product

Treating Bed Sores

What can you do to help your loved one with incontinence to manage their bed sores? You need to try and get them up and moving often. Every 2 hours or so, try to get them out of bed so you can change out their adult diapers but also so you can take them for a short walk around the home. Getting them up and moving can aid in the healing process so the blood isn’t just pooling in the body.

Eating a well-balanced diet is another important thing to do. This will aid in the healing process as your loved one will be able to maintain a healthy weight but they are eating foods like vegetables that are high in nutrients, which can help in healing the body.

Bath daily! Cleaning the skin is important as you need to ensure that your loved one does not have urine or fecal matter sitting on the skin. This will only irritate the skin and will end up causing additional bed sores to erupt, but around the genitals and these can be incredibly painful. Keeping the skin clean is important and you need to limit using too many moisture care products on the skin as they can increase the problems with bed sores. There are some products that you can use that will allow the skin to maintain it’s elasticity but they won’t increase the bed sores.

                    Watch this video:  tips on maintaining healthy skin with incontinence Use the right adult diapers and other incontinence supplies. You want to look at all of the many options that can help to manage incontinence from adult diapers to penile pads and other things. If you have a loved one that has incontinence you need to consider using incontinence bed pads. Since they have limited mobility the bed pads can capture any urine loss that occurs and makes the cleanup much easier for you.

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http://www.caregiverpartnership.com/incontinence-product-finder/

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