I developed a pressure sore late Wednesday night, April 20. A cramp shot into my upper right arm and a staff gave me a deep tissue massage. The massage got rid of the cramp but left the pressure sore.
A pressure sore is usually an area of the skin that is damaged because of loss of blood flow to that area. Unrelieved pressure is the most common form of pressure sore. In my case, it was chafing of the skin.
Pressure sores can be quite serious, even life-threatening. People with a SCI are extremely vulnerable because a spinal cord injury disrupts the communication between the brain and body. The sensory signals below the level of injury (my level is a level C3) are either muted or nonexistent.
There are other causes of pressure sores including moisture, infections, spasticity, shearing, feces and friction. In my case, it was friction.
There are four stages of pressure sores:
Stage 1 involves redness or discoloration of the skin.
Stage 2 involves damage to the upper most layer of skin
Stage 3 are deeper sores down to the last layer of skin
Stage 4 means the wound is all the way to the bone (check the Internet if you want to see some sobering photographs of this pressure warned)
Repositioning is crucial in the prevention of pressure sores. I tilt my wheelchair backward every 20 to 30 minutes to relieve pressure on my arse. Residential staff reposition me every two hours when in bed at night. This makes for a lot of disrupted sleep but better then the alternative of a pressure sore. It’s also imperative to do regular skin checks.
My injury is stage 1 and is already healing. I did have a stage 2 wound on my right buttock after my last stay in the hospital. This was from not being repositioned regularly during the night. We were quite vigilant treating it and doing regular pressure reliefs after discharge.
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