bedsores(1)

daisy_101

Any recommendation of mattress or chair pad?

And topical medications? 

Everyday there is a new mountain to conquer! Thanks

star26

If your LO currently has a pressure sore, get a referral to a wound care nurse and take your direction from him or her. (Medicare will probably cover this as a home health visit.) They can form and progress quickly, become deadly, and the stage also dictates the best treatment. 

For prevention and help with healing: Alternating pressure mattresses are the best but expensive. Another option is to get an alternating pressure mattress topper on Amazon. I use a FOMI gel seat cushion on chairs. I've also used layers of foam egg-crate cushions to keep seats soft. What you don't want to use is a donut pillow. Our wound care RN said they can cause pressure sores and hemorrhoids.  If it's stage 1 and not open, a barrier cream to keep it dry and protected may help. I use Sensicare-3-Protect Zinc cream. 

By far, the best thing you can do for prevention and healing is stop the pressure and get the blood flowing to the area. Turn the person in bed frequently or if sitting, have the person get up and walk every hour. 

There are special adhesive pads, cleaning regimens and creams for open wounds, but those will be prescribed by your wound care specialist. This isn't like regular first aid. 

towhee

Daisy_101- If you think your mother might have pressure sores, this situation can get bad very quickly. It is not just a matter of a mattress or chair pad and topical ointment, although members can give you recommendations. It is a matter of prevention so they don't occur. The prevention program at nursing homes includes getting a certain amount of calories, protein and vitamins, and changing a persons position so that their body weight is not on the same area for too long. They do a through skin check at least once a week, looking for problems.

I went back and looked for what I thought was your first post, you said your mother had a stroke and was diagnosed with dementia and was having trouble getting to the bathroom at night. If she went to rehab after her stoke she should have had a home care plan before discharge. If she came home from the hospital she should have had home health. If you don't have home health you need it.

You need help before the situation gets worse. Pressure sores are a big red flag. Please call your mothers' doctor the instant their office is open tomorrow, tell them what is going on, tell them your mother is homebound (if you are using a bedpan a night that is not a stretch) and ask for a nurse to do an evaluation.

Best Wishes, and please keep coming back to the boards

ebplionis

Hi, I'm so sorry you are dealing with bed sores, they are horrible!  My father has suffered with them on and off for forever.  If it is open, please have your loved one see a wound doctor asap, they can write prescriptions for medical devices that are sometimes covered by insurance & Medicare.  The wound doctor will also remove the dead tissue to help the wound heal better. In the meantime,  if your LO is sitting a lot and causing the sores, a  roho cushion is the go to cushion for bed sores.  Do NOT get a donut cushion, a caregiver suggested one for my father in the early days before we new better and before he went to a wound doctor, donut cushions actually make bed sores worse.  If its for a mattress, Medicare usually only allows an air mattress cover, instead of the full specialized mattress, and only once it reaches a level of severity they feel its worth it.  But the covers are not that expensive, here's a link to one for an example (https://senior.com/products/meridian-alternating-pressure-mattress-with-electric-pump?variant=34931843989642&gclid=CjwKCAjw6qqDBhB-EiwACBs6x4H8d1IrCqF5qRdoS4yxloSFi5eiD6VjGmJr6UUnCl25OpNDLtywaRoC0ysQAvD_BwE)

Other things that helped ALOT:

Its a huge pain, and if in AL or a NH it probably wont happen, but your LO should change positions every 2 hours. Without changing position, the wound won't be able to health, and if they stay off the wound, but in the same new position they are at a risk of developing a new sore.  

High protein diet.  For smaller wounds we gave him protein shakes, the kind with 30 gms of protein in one bottle.  For a large wound that required surgery, we were prescribed a special high protein liquid, expensive but worked great- you can find it here (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GQ4YYH5/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) 

Good luck!

abc123

Wound care nurse. 

My husband suffered terribly from a pressure sore. I hope you can get this under control very soon. Good luck.

mommyandme (m&m)

We had a very hard time with coccyx cushions etc... Mom was never comfortable.  Since she moved here I’ve been using a horseshoe shaped nursing pillow.  It has changed her life for the better.

daisy_101

Thank you all for the info. I did not know it is such a serious issue. Luckly, mom does not have an open wound. Thank you!