[seeker]

My husband of 6 weeks has developed a pressure sore on his bottom. We are keeping him off of it as much as possible and keeping it covered and all that good stuff. My question is... Is the fact that it is leaking A LOT, something to be overly concerned about, or just keep an eye on it, change the dressing and keep it clean? What is the "leakage"? Is it a good thing?(cleans out the wound kind of thing)? Any help is appreciated.

[Califanna]

Gosh, I just had to reply to your request for info. I had a pressure sore last year in same area and I had nursing care that came everyday. Every time they saw the leakage they were happy. They also washed away the debris, dead skin with saline solution. Then they made sure the sore had an ample amount of wound gel before they would put a clean bandage. I stayed off it all day except for bathroom breaks. Be sure to use the paper tape instead of the mesh tape, it is less wear and tear on the bottom. I had to stay out of my wheelchair too.

Did anyone suggest to you that he should take Zinc and Vitamin C during this time? I took 500 units of Vitamin C a day. I also took 100 mg of Zinc a day. Because Zinc upsets the stomach, make sure you break up consumption to 50 mg two times a day with meals. I also kept mints handy because of the aftertaste, once the Zinc was absorbed in my stomach. I also took 10 days worth of antibiotics when it was leaking, just in case the nurse said.

Once you begin to see some pink skin appear (it looks kinda spotty pink/white), then the wound is beginning it's healing process. In all it took almost three months for the wound to heal completely. Once it begins to look smaller, then that tells you can get up for more hours of the day. I also tried to eat healthier during this time, no fast food, essentially a low fat diet. However, I do have a scar from the episode and I have to keep an eye on it forever, because the skin never returns to its normal self again. Once it healed, I put aloe vera gel on it to lessen the scar appearance. I hope this helps you and your hubby.

This post has been edited by Califanna: 15 July 2007 - 06:30 PM

[seeker]

That is exactly what we are doing. I don't really like the paper tape, because it seems to not stick as well, but we use it. We are thinking of upping his intake of Vit. C because we're not sure he's getting enough. He started taking zinc because we thought he might be getting a bladder infection, and it is supposed to help with healing. So the leakage is a good thing?! Who knew?!