A thorough understanding of preventing bed sores is essential if you provide home care for an elderly relative who is bedridden or uses a wheelchair. Bed sores may appear minor initially, but they can rapidly worsen into a life-threatening infection and tissue breakdown.
Our caregivers providing home health care services in Omaha, Nebraska, have some suggestions on how to prevent bed sores from developing in your senior patient:
- Constantly shift their position.Repositioning your older adult’s body prevents and heals bed sores. Shifting every 2 to 3 hours relieves strain on bony regions and boosts circulation.
- Manage urinary incontinence.Maintaining proper urinary hygiene can protect the skin from damage.At each incontinence briefs change, you should clean, dry, and use a barrier ointment, cream, or gel to prevent skin from being irritated or damaged from prolonged exposure to moisture.
- Maintain proper nutrition and hydration.Your senior may get the nutrients they need to strengthen skin and repair tissue from meals like fatty fish, citrus fruits, broccoli, cauliflower, quinoa, flax seeds, and almonds. A healthy blood flow, aided by drinking plenty of water, helps avoid tissue damage.
Suppose you believe that bed sores have developed. In that case, your senior loved one’s doctor can prescribe the appropriate healthcare services based on the bed sore’s severity and the extent of the skin breakdown that has already occurred.
At Livathome, many families have trusted our non-medical home care in Nebraska for many years. Let us support you in taking care of your loved ones today.