Reference no: EM133667040

Question

Pressure ulcers also known as bed sores can best be defined as prolonged injuries to the skin and tissue causing extreme pain, skin breakdown, foul odor, pus-like drainage and skin discoloration. Some common causes of pressure ulcers immobility, age, poor nutrition and hydration, prolonged moisture, incontinence, medical conditions affecting blood flow and constant pressure on one area of the body. These risk factors each have a way to affect skin as the older someone gets the skin begins to loose its elasticity, it becomes drier, and has a decrease in collagen which is important to healthy skin. When someone lives a sedentary lifestyle there is less perfusion cause a lack of blood flow to important parts of the body. With lack of blood flow the skin becomes more fragile and especially on body prominences where a lack of blood flow means a lack of skin integrity making it really easy for a ulcer to form. Nutrition is known to help with skin repairs, wounds and to preserve intravascular volume the lack of protein intake interrupts the wound healing making it harder for a small ulcer to heal leading to a much bigger problem. As important nutrition is for skin repair.