What are bedsores (pressure ulcers) and how are they caused?
Bedsores are now commonly referred to as pressure ulcers. The National Library of Medicine, in its Preventing Pressure Ulcers: A Patient’s Guide, describes a pressure ulcer as an injury usually caused by unrelieved pressure that damages the skin and underlying tissue. Unrelieved pressure on the skin squeezes tiny blood vessels, which supply the skin with nutrients and oxygen. When skin is starved of nutrients and oxygen for too long, the tissue dies and a pressure ulcer forms. Skin reddening that disappears after pressure is removed is normal and not a pressure ulcer. Other factors cause pressure ulcers too. If a person slides down in the bed or chair, blood vessels can stretch or bend and cause pressure ulcers. Even slight rubbing or friction on the skin may cause minor pressure ulcers.
