What is
pressure ulcer?
Everybody
knew the actor Christopher Reeve. Before Brandon Routh, he was the original
Superman on the big screen. Did you know that he died from a complication of pressure ulcer?
Now back to
the question. What is pressure ulcer or otherwise known in layman's term as PRESSURE SORES or bed sore? If you look
at the two words separately and translate them as is, you will have a general
idea of what the condition is all about.
Pressure ulcer or PRESSURE SORES is a lesion or a defined change in a specific area
where pressure is applied for a long period of time. This is common to persons
who are paraplegic (both lower extremities are paralyzed) or quadriplegic (both
upper and lower extremities are paralyzed). Although, the occurrence of
pressure ulcer is not only limited to these two conditions. The general concept
here is that when a person's situation does not permit him to be mobile then
most likely, pressure ulcer will
occur.
How does
this happen?
Did you
notice that when you cross your legs for a long period of time you will see
redness in the area where both your knees come in contact? That redness that
you see is due to the fact that blood flow in that area was disrupted. Blood
circulation is very important because it carries and distributes oxygen and
other nutrients to different parts of the body. It is like a waitress
delivering food to every person in the restaurant to relieve their hunger.
Now, imagine
when a person is immobile. That person just stays in one position (most likely
lying in bed) and is incapable of moving for a very long period of time. The
pressure is always applied (between the body and the bed). Like the example
above, when there is pressure, there is disruption of blood flow. Redness
starts to appear on certain areas. Areas where there are bony prominences since
there is more pressure applied in that area. If this situation continuous blood
will not be supplied in that area. If blood is not supplied, the body's cells
become hungry. What is worse is that they die. You have to remember that the
cells make up the tissues and the tissues make up the muscles in your body.
With pressure ulcer, there is skin
disintegration (early stages) and Worse muscle disintegration (later stages).
It is easy
to not notice these early manifestations of PRESSURE ULCER especially if the immobile person is not moved. But
you have to keep in mind that it is difficult to regain what was lost. Make it
a practice to move the bedridden person especially if you are the one caring
for that person. Moving the person to a different position every two to four
hours is ideal to relieve the pressure.
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