Avoiding Bed Sores With The Help of Home Care Assistance

Bed sores can happen when your senior is mostly immobile and stays on one piece of furniture for too long without moving. When your senior ages in place and does not have professional help it can lead to discomfort. Even if you are there to help your senior loved one, they may need more help than you can give, especially if you have young kids and a job. This is when home care assistance can help your loved one thrive while aging in place, and they can ensure your senior loved one is maintaining optimal health, keeping them happier! Here is how home care assistance can help your loved one avoid bedsores.

They Can Create a Schedule

You may be so busy that you forget to help reposition your senior loved one and this can be so painful for them. They may also forget they need to move. This is when home care assistance can be a huge benefit for a senior who is bedridden or immobile. Home care assistance can create a schedule that allows a senior to move every few hours on the dot or more as necessary. This is one of the easiest but best ways to ensure a senior does not suffer from bedsores. A new position every hour can also help a senior feel comfortable and prevent cramps and kinks from happening too often. Home care assistance can usually do this on their own but they may need help with a senior depending on the position they are trying to get someone in.

Using Cushions

There are certain areas that are always at risk of getting bedsores, and in those areas, home care assistance may place extra pillows or cushions to prevent that from happening. This is something that only someone with a lot of experience will know and that is why it is important to find a caregiver who has experience with immobile or bedridden seniors. The more cushions a senior has the more protection their skin has and the less pressure is on their body in those specific areas. It’s an easy way to prevent bedsores from happening but is also very effective.

Focus on Skin Health

Even if a senior is in bed most of the time, home care assistance should be helping a senior protect their skin which will also help prevent bedsores from happening. Healthier skin will not tear as easily or develop ulcers. Home care assistance can not only help with bathing, and sponge baths, but they can also help with powder and moisturizer afterward which helps protect a senior’s skin from becoming damaged. This is something that a senior may find more comfortable to ask home care assistance to help with rather than their adult child.

Perform Skin Checks

A senior may not bathe every single day because it can be too much pain and work for them to do. However, home care assistance should be checking their skin every day especially when they are repositioning a senior. This means if any bedsores do occur they can be spotted and treated right away. Your senior loved one should be checking their own skin as well and paying attention to how they feel.

If you or an aging loved one are considering Home Care Assistance in Parkers Prairie, MN, please contact the caring staff at Alternative Senior Care today.

Providing Home Care in Central Minnesota and Surrounding Communities. Call us today at (320) 352-3350