Bedsores - The Decubitus Ulcer
Michalis 'BIG Mike' Kotzakolios

Defined Tag: Decubitus Ulcer.

Anyone who has seen the film MILLION DOLLAR BABY probably cringed at the sequences involving Hillary Duff’s dealing with bed sores and the tragic consequences of them. Now, the usually occurrences that involve bed sores are usually benign and do not involve such extreme consequences as those depicted in the film, but there are also other degrees of bed sores that are problematic and painful to a significant degree.

The clinical name for bed sore is a decubitus ulcer. The usually root cause of a decubitus ulcer is pressure. That is, there is a weight or pressure on a point of the body they is never relieved and an ulcer develops. The main reason that the pressure is not relieved is that the person is immobile and lying prone in bed. This is why bedridden patients suffer from these types of ulcers the most. Hence, the name bed sores.

Friction is also another villain that can bring about a decubitus ulcer. In this instance what happens is that a limb may be in a cast and the limb repeatedly rubs against the cast. This can bring about the onset of the ulcers. There are many other things that can cause friction against the body including such seemingly innocuous items such as bed sheets and other common items.

Proper monitoring of an immobile patient is crucial to preventing the onset of a decubitus ulcer. Hospitals and nursing home staff members should be sure to look for sign of the ulcers and to try and relieve the pressure and potential for friction by moving the patient (when able) at frequency levels that are agreeable with the person’s condition. If the hospital and/or nursing staffs do not do what they are required to do, then they are being guilty of negligence and the onset of a decubitus ulcer may be a case of malpractice.

BIG Mike is a well known author, developer and Adsense expert as well as the owner of Niche Maniacs - a unique Adsense Marketing System designed to build long-term passive income streams from Adsense, Amazon, YPN, Chitika and other PPC services.