How can you reduce the risks of pressure ulcers on the sacrum?

Answer 1

Special air matress, reposition every 2 hrs, good skin care, massage the bony area, also there are special sticky band-aids patches that are soft jelly-like and are place on the area to reduce pressure

Answer 2

Read the "dehydration" website. All diseases and illnesses come from not drinking enough pure water. You should drink at least 6-8 glasses of water a day. You will urinate it all out. Take 2 tbls. of apple cider vinegar in a glass of water for its 93 vitamins and minerals. Vinegar will help your body become whole again.

Answer 3

Here is the link that provide detail about pressure ulcers. http://dearjane.com.au/blog/ visit the link for detail information and suggestion.

Answer 4

You first have to stop getting things stuck upinya...HAHAHAH

Answer 5

Repositioning every couple of hours helps.

For chair-bound individuals doctors have recommended the following steps:

Inspect skin at least once a day
Shift weight every 15 minutes
Use a pressure-reducing device for seating surfaces
Do not use donut shaped devices
Consider postural alignment, distribution of weight, balance and stability, and pressure relief when positioning in a wheelchair
Here are some problems that cause pressure sores:
Although prolonged, uninterrupted pressure is the cause, impaired mobility is probably the most common reason patients are exposed to uninterrupted pressure. This situation may be present in patients who are neurologically impaired, heavily sedated or anesthetized, restrained, demented, or those suffering traumatic injury such as a pelvic or femur fracture. These patients are incapable of assuming the responsibility of altering their position to relieve pressure. Moreover, this immobility, if prolonged, leads to muscle and soft tissue atrophy, decreasing the bulk over which bony prominences are supported.

Contractures and spasticity often contribute by repeatedly exposing tissues to trauma through flexion of a joint. Contractures rigidly hold a joint in flexion, while spasticity subjects tissues to repeated friction and shear forces.
The inability to perceive pain, from neurologic impairment or medication, contributes to pressure ulceration by removing one of the most important stimuli for repositioning and pressure relief. Conversely, pain from surgical incisions, fracture sites, or other sources may make the patient unwilling to change position.
Skin quality also affects whether pressure leads to ulceration. Paralysis, insensibility and aging lead to atrophy of the skin with thinning of this protective barrier. A decrease in epidermal turnover, flattening of the dermal-epidermal junction, and loss of vascularity occur. The skin becomes more susceptible to minor traumatic forces, such as friction and shear forces typically exerted during the moving of a patient. Trauma causing de-epithelialization removes the barrier to bacterial contamination and leads to transdermal water loss, creating maceration and adherence of the skin to clothing and bedding.
Incontinence or presence of a fistula contributes to ulceration in several ways. These conditions cause the skin to be continually moist, leading to maceration. In addition, frequent soiling has the effect of regularly introducing bacteria to the wound.
Bacterial contamination from improper skin care or urinary or fecal incontinence, while not truly an etiologic factor, is an important element to consider in the treatment of pressure sores and can delay wound healing. These wounds serve as warm, moist reservoirs for bacterial overgrowth where antibiotic resistance may develop as a result of the injudicious use of antibiotics. Pressure sores may progress from being simply contaminated, as all open wounds are, to being seriously infected, which indicates tissue invasion by bacteria. This may lead to uncommon but life-threatening complications such as sepsis, myonecrosis, gangrene, or necrotizing fasciitis.
Malnutrition, hypoproteinemia, and anemia reflect the overall status of the patient and can contribute to tissue vulnerability to trauma as well as cause delayed wound healing. Poor nutritional status certainly contributes to the chronicity often seen in these lesions and inhibits the ability of the immune system to prevent infections. Anemia indicates poor oxygen carrying capacity of the blood. Vascular disease and hypovolemia also may impair blood flow to the region of ulceration.
TREATMENT
The first step in healing is to reduce or eliminate the cause, ie, pressure. Turning and repositioning the patient remains the cornerstone of prevention and treatment through pressure relief. Perform this every 2 hours, even in the presence of a specialty surface or bed. During transfer and repositioning, make efforts to avoid sliding the patient over a surface to prevent shear forces and friction. Patients suffering a pressure sore while sitting should be placed on bed rest.

Pressure reduction may be achieved through the use of specialized support surfaces for bedding and wheelchairs that can maintain tissue pressures less than 30 mm Hg. In theory, reduction of tissue pressures below capillary filling pressures should allow for adequate tissue perfusion. These specialized surfaces include foam devices, air-filled devices, water-filled devices, gel-filled devices, low-air-loss beds (Flexicair, KinAir), and air-fluidized beds (Clinitron, FluidAir). Low-air-loss beds support the patient on multiple inflatable air-permeable pillows. Air-fluidized beds suspend the patient on an air-permeable mattress containing millions of uniformly sized silicone-coated beads.
These devices often are heavy, expensive, difficult to clean, and require ongoing maintenance to ensure proper function. No one device has been shown to be clearly superior, but all reduce pressure sore incidence and severity when compared to conventional hospital mattresses and wheelchair cushions. However, pressure sores may develop in patients using these devices, and the importance of turning and repositioning cannot be overemphasized. More than 75 companies sell pressure-reduction devices with annual industry revenues in excess of 8 billion dollars.

When employing a pressure relief surface, it is important that these devices be used properly. The patient's head and shoulders should be only minimally elevated on one pillow or foam wedge to reduce shear forces and prevent the patient from “bottoming out” or having the sacrum or ischial tuberosities resting on the bed frame. In addition, air-permeable devices may warm the patient considerably and lead to significant insensitive fluid losses. Give special consideration to temperature and hydration in these patients.

Nutritional status should be evaluated and optimized to ensure adequate intake of calories, proteins, and vitamins. Malnutrition is one of the few reversible contributing factors, and establishing adequate nutrition has been shown to improve healing of pressure sores.

Other important considerations include the cessation of smoking, adequate pain control, maintenance of adequate blood volume, and correction of anemia. These issues are directed at preventing vasoconstriction in the wound and optimizing the oxygen carrying capacity of the blood.