Status
Not open for further replies.

bluebottle

Active member
Joined
Mar 12, 2008
Messages
36
Reason
PALS
Diagnosis
09/2008
Country
uk
State
england
City
england
OK Please help - not posted for sometime as been dealing with the diagnosis of ALS and then having a peg fitted. I now have a pressure sore on my coxyx and it is very sore but not yet broken. Any advice please on how to keep myself comfortable.
 
Not knowing if you are bedfast, chairfast, it's a bit hard, but I'll give it a try.

If you are able, you need to change your positioning as often as possible, if you are bedfast, you need to be moved left side to right side every 2 hrs, in order to keep pressure off your coccyx. If bedfast, and it's a hospital bed, see if you can get an air mattress for the bed for a couple of months.
If you have access to some high protein/high calories supplements, that would help also to add to your diet, either via peg, or by mouth.
If you are in a chair most of the time, there are many different cushions available to help distribute your weight off of your coccyx. One is made by Roho-they are very nice and provide comfort as well.
That's all I can think of right now, hope this helps,
-b
 
I bought a seat cushion with coccyx cut-out for your mum to provide relief for the pressure on her tailbone. You might want to check out Jobri Sacro Wedge Plus A1002.

Also my friend, who is an ex-RN, told me to purchase 3M Cavilon Barrier Spray and Sanyrene oil to apply for her on the red areas of the skin. There is also the 3M Cavilon Barrier Cream, but I was told the spray works better than the cream.
 
Thank you

Thank you both. I am now in possession of Cavilon Barrier spray. I am also to get a air matress for my bed for a couple of weeks. Thanks for the advice - sometimes you just need to know what to ask for and it gets all sorted in a jiffy.
 
Ssugar treats bedsores better than any antibiodic.
I did some surfing, and here's what I found.

Time Magazine/CNN

Decubitus ulcers, or bedsores, have for centuries plagued patients and stubbornly resisted the efforts of doctors to cure them. But it appears that the sores, which result from the continuous pressure of the body against the bed, are succumbing to new versions of an almost forgotten medical approach:

sweetness. Dr. James Barnes Jr., of the Glenn Dale Hospital in Glenn Dale, Md., reports in the A.M.A. Journal that a high concentration of common granulated sugar, applied daily to bedsores under a special airtight bandage, clears them up. Dr. Robert Blomfield of Chelsea, England, reports similar results when he uses honey. Neither doctor is sure why his treatment works, though Barnes believes that sugar may boost the inflammatory reaction essential to the healing process. Barnes found that sugar produced a 78% cure rate when applied to the bedsores of 180 patients treated during a five-year period. Blomfield says that it works better than any other medication he has used.

A Sweet Cure?

For extreme cases of bedsores, don't be surprised if your doctor reaches for the sugar jar instead of the medicine cabinet. Sugar has been found to help hard-to-heal areas such as bedsores by acting as a scavenger of sorts--picking up dead bacteria and white blood cells. This debris is later flushed away when the wound is cleansed with water.

Sugar also absorbs moisture from the wounds and creates an unfavorable environment for bacterial growth, says Alvin B. Segelman, Ph.D., former professor of pharmacognosy at Rutgers University College of Pharmacy in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and now vice president for research and development for Natures Sunshine Products, based in Utah. But never try using sugar on any wound yourself, unless you're under the care of a health professional.

A Natural Cure For Bed Sores
By: McCain

My family found out about a home remedy for bed sores, plain sugar. My dad had been in the hospital for over a month and develop an awful bed sore. It had to be cut on 2 or 3 times to clean the infection out, which increase the size of the sore. The hospital staff treated it with some type of germ fighting solution but it became worse and worse.
When he returned home, it was one and one half inches wide and about an inch deep. We had seen in an article that doctors where treating hard healing wounds with regular table sugar poured directly on or in the wound. It was working. So we asked the homebound nurse if she would try it when she came every day to cleanse and put medicine on it. She said she would be glad to but MUST have a doctor's approval first. To make a long story short, he said "yes" go ahead nothing is working anyway and I have heard of such a thing myself. She came back and started the treatment. Within a matter of days apparent healing was taking place and within 3 or 4 weeks, was healed.

How it works? Bacteria CAN NOT grow in the presence of sugar and sugar feeds the tissue directly.
 
Thanks Joel, What an interesting atricle, which I have printed off for my district nurse.

It amazes me how something so small can produce soo much discomfort and pain!

I hope to have this cleared very quickly.
 
Dear Joel,
Wow, that sounds amazing! Hope you are feeling well
In friendship
Jeannie
 
Great thing to take note of

I have printed to pdf and filed in my "for future reference" file. Thanks
 
bluebottle I have heard of a site called http://www.imagocare.comand they have a lot of information on their around pressure sore prevention, also another forum called apparalyzed is another very good source of information if you search around pressure sores and NICE (Nursing Institute of Clinical Excellence has guidelines and standards that should be followed when treating pressure sores. Also through my research I have found that new technology is being released in the prevention of pressure sores, a company called Parafricta has developed a zero friction material that prevents shear and friction, ultrasound technology is being enhanced to help wounds heal and negative pressure technology (suction) have all been advanced. Hope this helps.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top