Top 4 Ways to Prevent Bed Sores in Senior Citizens

Senior citizens with certain medical conditions may be especially prone to bed sores. If you’re caring for an elderly loved one, you must ensure that part of their daily routine involves bed sore prevention. Bed sores can lead to dangerous, life-threatening infections. Here are four ways you can prevent bed sores:

Keep it moving

Keep your loved one as active and moving as possible. Make sure they are repositioned in their bed or wheelchair about every fifteen minutes or so. If they have upper and lower body strength, encourage them to do exercise. Your loved one can lift themselves up and down in their wheelchair or in bed, or do leg lifts.

Clean the skin

Keeping the skin clean and dry is essential for preventing the skin from becoming irritated and infected. Give your loved one a bath every day and thoroughly dry the skin. Apply powder to creases and underneath folds of skin. While you clean the skin, use mild, fragrance-free soaps and powders for sensitive skin to prevent irritation.

Recognize signs

You need to be able to recognize the warning signs that a bed sore may form. By recognizing these early signs, steps can be taken to nip the issue in the bud. Here are the signs:

• Skin redness
• Skin is warm or hot to the touch
• Swelling
• Peeling, bruising, cracking, or blistering
• Hard spots

Be vigilant about incontinence

If your loved one is incontinent, extra care is needed to prevent bed sores. Make sure you change their diaper as soon as it’s soiled. Acids in urine and bacteria in feces rapidly break down and irritate the skin, leading to infection. When you change their diaper, cleanse and dry the skin. If you suspect your loved one has developed incontinence, take him or her to their doctor for an evaluation.

These are ways you can prevent bed sores in senior citizens. Contact DFW Wound Care Center at 972-665-6292 in Plano, 972-318-2383 in Lewisville, or in Irving at 972-607-9643 for more information on bed sores and prevention.