Decubitus ulcers in bedridden patients: stages of development and treatment
Bed patients require close attention from both medical professionals and relatives. And after overcoming the acute phase of the main disease and stabilizing the patient's general well-being, the moment may come when you have to fight with pressure ulcers. How to treat and what to treat bedsores should be reported by the doctor, who will also give recommendations on the prevention of the appearance of such pathological foci. But a person who takes care of a bedridden patient must know and perform certain manipulations.
General principles of treatment of bedsores in bedridden patients
The specified pathology can occur in different stages. It is possible to notice the harbingers of the formation of a pressure sore without an additional examination - the skin in problem areas becomes thin, excessively dry, begins to peel and acquire a bluish-gray tint. Care for bedsores in the elderly, however, as in the young, should be carried out regularly and in accordance with the recommendations of specialists:
- Ensure competent position of the patient. If bedsores are just beginning to form, a special anti-bedsore rubber circle will help, which prevents the formation of pathological foci on the buttocks and coccyx. You can also use a mattress to prevent bedsores in bedridden patients, which is advisable when a person is completely immobile, when he cannot even stand up on his hands, tear his head and shoulders off the pillow, and turn on his side.
- Apply folk remedies at the first stage of the pathological process. Treatment of bedsores with creams and ointments based on sea buckthorn oil, rubbing the foci with camphor alcohol every 2-3 hours will be quite effective. It is important to remember that all products are applied with light circular movements.
- The second stage of bedsores, which is characterized by the beginning of the ulcer-necrotic process, involves the use of drugs. The first remedy against bedsores is disinfectants, such as Chlorhexidine. With this antiseptic solution, you need to wash the wounds several times a day, preferably after each urination or bowel movement. After such primary treatment, the wound is lubricated with Solcoseryl or Levomekol. Periodic application of hydrogel bandages will not be superfluous - this is the answer to the question of what to do if bedsores appear on the buttocks.
- The third and fourth stages of bedsores are necrosis of soft tissues, so you cannot do without the help of a surgeon. In principle, the treatment of bedsores of various degrees should be accompanied by consultations with the attending physician, but necrosis is too serious a problem. What measures are taken in this case:
- frequent rehabilitation of the pathological focus, which consists in washing the wounds with chlorhexidine;
- getting rid of already necrotized tissues in the wound - this is done with special surgical tools;
- application of wound-healing and absorbent bandages.
Only after the complete removal of necrotic masses and pus from the wound, it will be possible to start using specific medicines.
Treatment of this pathology is always long-term, and sometimes it is necessary to carry out medical manipulations every day for many years. But knowing what bedsores on the coccyx look like at the very beginning of their formation, it will be possible to prevent their further development, when the necrosis reaches simply terrible volumes.
What can be done to prevent the development of bedsores
There are a number of rules for the care of bedridden patients, if you follow them, you can avoid the formation of ulcers in certain places. The formation of bedsores at the initial stage can be prevented by following the recommendations of specialists:
- once every 2 hours you need to change the position of the patient - turn him from his back to the left or right side and vice versa, raise the upper part of the body or the lower limbs, if it is allowed by the doctor;
- use special mattresses that are filled with either small polypropylene balls or air - this ensures an even distribution of the load on the patient's body;
- when involuntarily urinating or emptying the intestines, you need to change sheets and diapers often - feces and urine increase the risk of pressure sores several times;
- once every 10-14 days (not less often, but it is possible more often), the entire body of the patient should be wiped with a damp sponge, preferably using soap.
It is necessary to understand that only a regular examination of the lying patient and timely detection of primary signs of the formation of bedsores will make it possible to avoid the progression of necrotic processes in soft tissues. Official medicine knows of cases where patients who have been lying down for years and decades have not had bedsores. And this is the result of high-quality and competent care. Unfortunately, there are other confirmed facts when ulcerative lesions of the skin are diagnosed even after 1-2 months of lying down.
You can learn more about how to treat bedsores on the patient's heels, in which cases folk remedies will be effective and when a surgeon's help is needed, on the website https://dobrobut.com/.