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Pressure Injury: Introduction to Treatment
Pressure Injury: Introduction to TreatmentPreventing pressure injuries, before they develop, is the best way to protect your overall skin health. But,despite your best efforts, you may still develop a pressure injury.If you do think you have a pressure injury, tell your healthcare provider right away.Quick treatment of a damaged area can prevent a minor irritation from progressing to severe damage that canbe painful and slow to heal.Your healthcare provider will check the area for signs of damage. They will look at the size and depth of thesore, check for bleeding and fluid in the area, look at the surrounding tissue to see if the damage is spreadingand check for any signs of infection.Based on all of these factors, and your overall health, your healthcare provider can begin treatment.The first step in treatment is to take pressure off the damaged area in order to restore blood flow and increasethe amount of oxygen getting to the skin and tissue.If the skin is not broken, the area can be washed with soap and water on a regular basis. Remember to pat thearea dry, do not rub it.If the skin is broken it can be cleaned with a saline solution and covered with a dressing.The dressing keeps the wound moist while keeping the surrounding tissues dry and protects the injury frominfection. Your healthcare provider will tell you how often to clean the wound and change the dressing.Open wounds such as pressure injuries are easy places for infection to start. You and your healthcare providercan watch for signs of infection.If you notice: redness or warmth at the site; red streaks leading away from the wound; tenderness around thewound; pus in the wound; a foul odor; a fever; tell your healthcare provider right away.Your healthcare provider may prescribe antibiotics to fight an infection. Take these medications exactly asprescribed and make sure you finish the entire prescription, whether you feel better or not.If your pressure injury is causing you pain, discuss your pain management options with your healthcareprovider.Topical creams can also reduce pain at the wound site and can provide much needed relief quickly.Severe pressure injuries can take time to heal. Throughout healing, your healthcare provider will closely watchthe area. If a pressure injury is not healing as quickly as it should, surgery to close the wound may be anoption.As your pressure injury heals, be patient. Follow your healthcare provider’s instructions, take all yourmedications as prescribed and do all you can to promote healing.This program is for informational purposes only. Publisher disclaims all guarantees regarding the accuracy, completeness,or suitability of this video for medical decision making. For all health related issues please contact your healthcare provider.VER59439C EN PressureInjuryIntroductiontoTreatment.pdf© The Wellness NetworkPage 1 of 1
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