California Injury Attorney Blog

Bed sores are commonly called as pressure ulcers which are caused primarily by unrelieved pressure. It may affect any part of the body like knees, elbows and sacrum, which is kept under constant pressure. When individuals are bed ridden for several months there will be no movement of various parts of body causing continuous pressure inside. It is difficult to treat bed sores in elderly patients and patients who are terminally ill. Many cases of bed sore patients have died even though they are in constant medical care.

Symptoms by stages:

Patients who stay in bed for continuous hours without any physical movement are prone to bed sores, irrespective of age. It is necessary to change the position of the patients for every 2-3 hours to remove the pressure. In the first stage the disease is only superficial which is seen as red coloration in the skin. Even if the patient is shifted on turns, for relieving the pressure, the redness of the skin does not disappear. This type of pressure ulcers (bed sores) can be identified easily in fair complexioned people. In stage two, the pressure ulcer will destroy the epidermis layer of the skin and may extend till dermis. In stage three, the skin become very thick and ulcer may enter the subcutaneous layer. In final stages, the ulcer may affect and damage the muscles and even bones and is mostly fatal.

The patients will develop deep purple or maroon colored skin with blisters on account of damage caused to the thin layer of cells. It becomes difficult to detect bed sores in dark skin persons. Depending on the stages of development the time of healing may extend.