Your senior might have some situations that make her more susceptible to forming bed sores. You may still be able to help her to avoid these painful wounds, if you’re aware of what can make them appear more easily.
Elder Care Arlington TN – Five Factors that Contribute to Bed Sores
Difficulties with Mobility
One of the biggest contributing factors to forming bed sores is that your senior may not be as mobile as she used to be. Your senior may not be able to move herself or change her position, so it’s important that you or that someone else, like elder care providers, are able to help her to shift positions. Using pillows and blankets to prop your senior into different positions can help.
Being Too Thin
Your senior might be underweight for a variety of reasons, but the important fact is that no matter why she’s a little thinner than she should be that can contribute to bed sores forming. The reason for that is that there’s less padding over joints and pressure in those areas aggravates thin skin. There might not be a lot that you can do about your senior’s weight, particularly if she’s lost weight due to health conditions or medication side effects.
Diminished Nutrients
Your senior’s body needs nutrients in order to keep her skin healthy and in good repair. If she’s not getting the nutrition that she needs, it’s more difficult for her body to keep her skin from breaking down, which can mean that bed sores form much more readily. Talk to your senior’s doctor about the nutrients she needs and what she’s actually getting in her diet.
Being a Smoker
Smoking creates problems for seniors in so many different ways. In terms of bed sores, smoking causes blood vessels to narrow and therefore affects circulation. When there’s pressure, even just a little, on an area for a little too long and circulation is already hampered, then bed sores can form a little more easily. Your senior’s doctor can help her to develop a plan for quitting smoking if she’s ready to do so.
Factors Your Senior Can’t Control
Some factors contribute to bed sores but they’re ones that neither you nor your senior can control or manage fully. Things like your senior’s age or her cognitive health can impact whether or not she develops bed sores and there’s nothing you can do to change those situations. What you can do is to be as aware as possible of what’s going on with her skin so you can deal with the situation as it changes.
Staying alert for the signs of bed sores is really important. The sooner you take action when you notice something is wrong, the better off your senior will be.
For Elder Care Services in Arlington TN, please contact the caring staff at Personal Care Services MidSouth today!
