Are you worried about the safety of a dear family member who lives alone? Perhaps, your elderly mother has started falling frequently. Or, your older father might sometimes forget to take his medicine. If you can relate to either one of these worrisome situations, consider moving your senior relative into a nursing home. If your loved one doesn’t need round-the-clock care, you might wish to put him or her in an assisted living facility. Staying at this type of facility can provide a family member with a sense of independence. On this blog, I hope you will discover valuable tips to help you move an aging loved one into a nursing home or assisted living facility. Enjoy!
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Keeping Your Family Member Safe
Wounds That Are Common In The Elderly, And How They Are Treated
Debbie Rodriguez
As you age, your body goes through so many changes. One of those changes involves the ability to heal. You will no longer heal at the same rate you did in your forties, and definitely not at the same rate you did in your twenties. In fact, it is not that unusual to have an open wound take up to a month or more to heal when you are in your "golden years." To prepare yourself for such things in the future, should they occur, here are some common wounds the elderly have, and how they are treated to aid healing.
Cubital or Pressure Ulcers
This is what happens if you lay in bed or just lay around too much. Of course, some people are bedridden, and nurses are responsible to turn these people regularly to avoid this condition. What happens when you do not move or you are not turned often by a nurse is that pressure points develop on your body. The skin becomes red and inflamed because the blood vessels in those areas are compressed and the blood cannot flow properly.
After some time, the skin becomes dry, breaks down, and tears. If left untreated at this early stage, the sore (or ulcer) becomes infected. The wound deepens, going through tissues, and opens wider to reveal bones underneath. It is necessary that A) such wounds be prevented through adequate skin care first, and B) that the wounds be treated in the early stages to prevent further breakdown of tissues and the need for surgical meshes and skin grafts to correct the problem later on.
Hip and Knee Surgical Sites
Hips and knees are common joint replacements in old age. Newer procedures create fewer and smaller incisions, but the incisions are still there and need to be cared for. Wound care in these cases involves sewing the flesh shut, regularly cleaning the areas with soap and water, applying iodine or peroxide to the wound to keep it free of bacteria, and then changing the bandages every few hours to make sure that no infection develops. Usually, nurses will clean the wounds and change bandages, but you can have a family member learn how to do this so that wound care can be completed at home.
Scratches
Scratches are very common in the elderly. The skin is no longer able to produce an adequate amount of oil to keep the skin moist, so the skin becomes exceedingly dry. From there, it does not take much to scratch the skin and cause bleeding. Cleaning the scratch right away and keeping some form of bandage on the scratch is the usual protocol. However, you might want to add an ointment or alcohol-free lotion to the scratched area once or twice a day to speed healing.
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