Pressure Ulcers are one of the leading causes of preventable injuries people sustain after a visit to the hospital. Some sources even suggest that pressure ulcers are nearly as big a problem as cases of wrongful death. While you may not have heard the term ‘pressure ulcer,’ before, many people are familiar with bed sores.
After you have rested in one position for an extended period of time, parts of the skin begin to break down. These sores are more likely to form near parts of the body where the skin is close to the bone. The pressure causes blood flow to constrict. Inadequate blood flow causes the skin to begin to die.
As the video below shows, there are four different stages of pressure sore.
The more advanced the injury is, the more serious the treating sore becomes. As the wound progresses, the damage extends through the layers of the skin towards the fat and muscle underneath.
There are a number of strategies health care professionals can use to help prevent pressure sores.
Health Care Professionals continue to study this problem and are working on developing new care management techniques.
There are also a number of techniques that can treat these wounds.
As you can see in the video above, pressure ulcers are serious business. If you have concerns that your loved one may be neglected, it’s important that you act quickly to correct the error.
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UPDATE: We wanted to update this post with one other note. Many victims of neglect in nursing homes have signed ‘binding arbitration,’ agreements. These agreements can limit your ability to receive the care you have paid for. You can read a little more about this here.
