Keep Pressure Sores From Worsening With Home Health Care
It’s estimated that as many as 3 million Americans experience pressure sores each year. Often, they occur in people who are bedridden for one reason or another or are confined to a wheelchair. Your dad’s stroke resulted in the need for a wheelchair, and you’ve found he has pressure sores. It’s time to arrange home health care services to help get them taken care of and learn why they happen and how to keep them from happening again.
What Is a Pressure Sore?
Home Health Care Somerset County NJ – Keep Pressure Sores From Worsening With Home Health Care
A pressure sore, commonly referred to as a bedsore, occurs when pressure pushes against the skin cells and fatty tissue continuously and reduces blood flow to that area. The tissue isn’t getting enough oxygen and dies.
Often, pressure sores are prevalent in areas where they’re compressed against a mattress, wheelchair, or chair for long periods, such as heels, buttocks, or hips. The key to preventing pressure sores is by shifting position regularly. But, if your dad is in a wheelchair throughout the day, shifting around isn’t easy to manage. He needs help doing this.
Pressure sores can become infected. Infections need to be carefully treated until they’re fully healed. Even after they heal, the skin has already been damaged and scar tissue is delicate and may reopen easily. Prevention of pressure sores is optimal.
Tips for Avoiding Pressure Sores
If your dad is in his wheelchair from the time he gets up to the time he goes to bed, he needs to be shifted regularly. Consider moving him from a wheelchair to an armchair and back every few hours. Invest in a wheelchair cushion that’s designed to prevent pressure sores.
If he’s in bed all day, turn him from his back to his right or left side every couple of hours. A mattress topper with a gel/memory foam mixture that has some give can help ease some of the pressure on his pressure points.
When you or a paid caregiver bathes your dad, apply a skin moisturizer that helps soothe the skin. If any irritated areas are visible, take care of them immediately with barrier creams. If they are open or showing signs of infection, medical care is needed. Home health care providers should be called for wound care services.
Prevent Infection Through Proper Wound Care
Home health care nurses are experts in wound care. When your dad has pressure sores, they must be carefully cleaned and bandaged to lower the risk of infection. He also needs to have his position adjusted more often to ensure they don’t keep happening.
Talk to our home health care agency about wound care. Get your dad’s pressure sores carefully tended to and healed up. Then, learn how to prevent them from happening again.
Sources: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK557868/
If you or an aging loved one are considering hiring professional Home Health Care Services in Somerset County NJ, please talk to the caring staff at Generations Home Health Care today. Providing Home Care in Somerset, Essex, Union, Morris, and Hunterdon Counties. Call us today at (908) 290-0691 or (973) 241-4534.
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