How Can You Avoid Getting Pressure Ulcers?

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When I lost my left leg in 2008 I ended up with a nasty pressure ulcer (bed sore) on my tailbone. It was so deep that you could see bare bone, it leaked / oozed all the time and eventually required surgery and Wound VAC suction to get it to close. When the plastic surgeon assured me it would be an "in and out procedure, only one day in the hospital" and it ended up turning into a six day stay I knew this went beyond what anyone expected. A pressure ulcer can start in a matter of minutes but there are a lot of factors that have to be considered. Weight, nutrition, overall health, sepsis and activity level are just a few things that play a part in the start of a pressure ulcer. Once it starts it can be 'cured' if caught early enough but for people who are bedridden or unconscious it requires a lot of diligence to check the skin, rotate the patient and keep the skin as clean as possible. My pressure ulcer was the size of a half of a grapefruit; cut one in half and take a look at the size of it and that was what was 'missing' from my lower back. It started when I was in the ICU after my amputation because I was never rotated. When my lawyer sent the request for copies of my medical records the rotation chart was no where to be found. Months later (and after many attempts to get get a copy of it) my lawyer said that he received it but there were only initials in the blocks on the chart. To make a long story short, whomever was tasked with taking care of this "problem" filled in the chart, copied it and sent it to my lawyer without doing any homework. When they were pressed for the full names of the people who signed the rotation chart we found out that two of the people on the list hadn't even been hired in 2008, one was on vacation out of the state and another one was on maternity leave. That was one of the anchors to winning my lawsuit for medical malpractice; if I hadn't pushed for the information I would have still had a case but this showed pure intent to cover up their obvious lack of ethics. I suffered for months with a bedsore that leaked, smelled, prevented me from getting all I could from physical therapy, caused massive depression and took almost a year to heal to the point that the Would VAC wasn't needed. Granted, my pressure ulcer was huge but even small ones can fester out of control and cause major complications for even healthy people. If you are going to be having any type of surgery, find yourself in the hospital for any reason or have a loved one that is in the hospital there are things you can do to help prevent pressure ulcers from happening. Keeping skin clean and free of urine and feces is at the top of the list; even if someone isn't incontinent there is always a chance that either of those could start skin breakdown. Using foam triangles or blocks to move or relocate pressure points is another way to help reduce the chances of a pressure ulcer from happening. Pillows can be used but you are going to want to change the pillow cases several times a day to make sure that they are clean and free of any "poop or pee". Ask to see a rotation chart if you are concerned with a loved one not being moved around enough and request that physical therapy visit them several times a day – even if they are unconscious or comatose – having someone move their limbs around and change their position can play a huge part in keeping them free of bed sores.