Bedsores: Treatment
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More about Bedsores:
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Prompt medical attention can prevent surface pressure sores from deepening into more serious infections. For mild bedsores, treatment involves relieving pressure, keeping the wound clean and moist, and keeping the area around the ulcer clean and dry. Antiseptics, harsh soaps, and other skin cleansers can damage new tissue, so a saline solution should be used to cleanse the wound whenever a fresh non-stick dressing is applied.
The patient's doctor may prescribe infection-fighting antibiotics, special dressings or drying agents, or lotions or ointments to be applied to the wound in a thin film three or four times a day. Warm whirlpool treatments are sometimes recommended for sores on the arm, hand, foot, or leg.
In a procedure called debriding, a scalpel may be used to remove dead tissue or other debris from the wound. Deep, ulcerated sores that don't respond to other therapy may require skin grafts or plastic surgery.
A doctor should be notified whenever a person:
- will be bedridden or immobilized for an extended time
- is very weak or unable to move
- develops bedsores
Immediate medical attention is required whenever:
- skin turns black or becomes inflamed, tender, swollen, or warm to the touch.
- the patient develops a fever during treatment.
- the sore contains pus or has a foul-smelling discharge.
With proper treatment, bedsores should begin to heal two to four weeks after treatment begins.
— Maureen Haggerty
