Using Cushions For Wheelchairs to Prevent Pressure Sores

The potential for developing pressure ulcers can be lessened by using cushions for wheelchair.

Pressure ulcers or pressure sores, as they are more commonly known, are chronic wounds that occur when there is increased pressure, friction, or moisture on a concentrated area of the skin. People are particularly prone to developing pressure sores when they sit or lie in one position for a prolonged period of time; this is common for patients on bed rest or with chronic disabilities that cause them to use a wheelchair for many months or years. The oxygen and nutrients supplied to the area where pressure is applied are cut off, thus causing a clot in the blood vessels which exhibits as redness. The red part worsens by stages, progressing into a blister-like form of skin irritation, and in advanced cases, deep craters that expose the bone and muscle.

PRESSURE SORES STAGES

However, when it comes to health care conditions, prevention is more advisable than cure. Before a pressure sore begins to develop, measures can be taken to prevent it, and one of the ways is by using cushions for wheelchair.

Wheelchair cushions redistribute the weight of the patient's body away from the areas directly beneath the bones, which are also the areas that are most prone to developing pressure ulcers. This decreases the pressure on those hypersensitive areas and lessens the tendency for pressure sores.

There are dynamic wheelchair cushions that frequently shift the area of highest pressure to limit the time that the circulation is restricted in one particular area.

Some wheelchair cushion materials are designed to cool and dry the skin to minimize chafing and subsequent damage.

The type of cushion best for the patient in question is dependent on his pressure points while sitting in the wheelchair. It is important for him to try out different cushions to be able to determine which one is most helpful in reducing pressure to those specific spots.

All in all, using cushions for wheelchair does not guarantee that pressure sores will be completely absent, but it can, through basic scientific principles, significantly lessen and delay their incidence.

Using Cushions For Wheelchairs to Prevent Pressure Sores

PRESSURE SORES STAGES