What are Bed Sores?

Bed sores are areas of damaged skin and tissue. They are also known as pressure sores or pressure ulcers or decubitus ulcers.

What causes bed sores?

Bed sores develop when the blood supply is cut off by pressure. This can often happen when you sit or lie in one position for too long, and so it mainly affects people who are inactive through poor mobility or illness or hospitalisation.

What do bed sores look like?

A pressure sore may start off as a red area of skin that does not go away after a few hours. The skin may feel tender and can become painful and purple in colour.

If the skin breaks then the sore can become open and get infected.

If left untreated the area of damage increases and it can even affect the muscle and bone under the skin.

Where do bed sores occur?

Bed sores are usually found on the heels, ankles,  hips, buttocks, back and shoulders.

Who's affected

Ulcers are most likely to affect those with poor mobility who spend prolonged periods in bed or in a chair, particularly if they're unable to change their position.

Older people are more likely to develop pressure sores due to cardiovascular disease and diabetes, other factors are poor nutrition, anaemia, recurrent infection and poor circulation.