Health Tip: What Causes Bed Sores?

Bed sores is a common term for pressure ulcers where the skin deteriorates due to constant pressure on the skin. According to a report done from the National Nursing Home Survey in 2004, 11% of residents in nursing homes had bed sores. Bed sores do not only affect residents of nursing homes. People undergoing surgery who are not mobile for periods of time during recovery can get bed sores.

So what causes bed sores and how can it be prevented? There are many factors that increase the likelihood of getting a bed sore such as being bedridden or in a wheelchair, having diabetes, fragile skin, Alzheimer's disease or just being unable to move certain parts of the body.

What happens is that if a person is in one spot for too long, the pressure from a bed or chair directly in contact with the skin reduces the blood supply to that area. In turn, the tissue dies.

Bed sores start off as patchy red skin and progressively gets worse until it forms a blister, then an open sore, and then can lead to a crater forming in the skin if untreated.

Common spots of the body for bed sores to form are ankles, heels, elbows, shoulders, and back.

Bed sores can be prevented. First, check for pressure sores everyday and pay extra attention to the most common spots where they form. If one finds red spots, apply gentile pressure to see if the spot turns white. Changing position frequently minimizes bed sores as it relieves pressure on the skin. Extra padding also helps since pillows help relieve pressure. Eating well balanced meals, exercising, and daily showers all play their part in preventing bed sores.



Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2011). Publications and Information Products. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/

Image by Joel Kramer. (2006). Big bed.