Pressure Injury

Home care

Follow these guidelines to help you or your caregiver care for your wound at home:

• Look at your pressure injury every day with good lighting to watch for signs of infection. At the same time, check other skin pressure points for early signs of skin changes.

• Change positions at least every few hours. It will let blood flow to the pressure areas. This is essential for healing to occur. A foam, water, or air mattress or gel pad will help reduce the pressure on the skin.

• Your health care provider may give you a special skin covering that stays in place on the pressure injury. If a simple bandage is used, change it daily. Clean the pressure injury with sterile saline or another solution your provider tells you to use. Pat dry. Apply any prescribed lotion or cream. Cover with a clean, dry gauze pad.

• Bed linens should be kept clean and dry.

• Try to keep from soiling the pressure injury with feces or urine. If this isn’t possible, try to limit the time of contact with the feces or urine. Do this by keeping the wound covered and clean.

Follow-up care

Follow up with your health care provider as advised.

When to get medical advice

Contact your health care provider right away if:

• There is redness or darkness around the wound that gets worse.

• There is pain or swelling near the wound that gets worse.

• Pus drains from the wound.

• There is foul or increasing odor from the wound.

• The wound does not get better.

• You have an unexplained fever of 100.4°F (38°C) or higher, or as directed by your provider.