Your skin and the muscles and other tissue layers beneath it need consistent blood flow to stay healthy and keep its cells alive. Staying in one position for too long can lead to the interruption of blood flow, potentially creating an injury called a pressure ulcer or bedsore.
Bedsores in Blue Bell nursing homes are especially common outcomes when residents are abused or neglected by staff members since nursing home residents often have trouble moving on their own and may even be completely immobile. If someone you love has developed a bedsore because of mistreatment by the people you trusted to care for them, our nursing home abuse lawyers can help you understand and take full advantage of your right to seek civil compensation on your family member’s behalf.
What Are the Stages of Bedsore Development?
Stage One
At their earliest stage of development, bedsores in nursing home residents in Blue Bell usually look like bruises that are red, blue, or purple in color and may itch or burn. They also may be noticeably warm to the touch compared to healthy skin elsewhere on the body.
Stage Two
If a bedsore is left untreated for long enough, it may develop into a painful open sore that looks a lot like a blister and may be discolored around its edges.
Stage Three
As a bedsore continues to develop, the sore may deepen into more of a crater, and the edges of the sore may go from discolored to noticeably darkened. At this point, the bedsore may have penetrated completely through the outer skin layer and reached the fatty layer underneath, called the hypodermis.
Stage Four
At the final stage of bedsore development, the infection has dug completely through the skin to damage muscles, tendons, and even bones. Someone dealing with a Stage Four bedsore is often at risk of life-threatening infections in the blood or bone.
How Nursing Home Neglect Can Lead to Bedsores
Bedsores generally occur when someone is left in the exact same physical position for hours or days at a time without being moved or being able to move on their own. Moisture buildup from sweat or other bodily fluids can dramatically increase the risk of a bedsore developing, as can sliding movement like someone slipping farther down a tilted bed or the seat of a wheelchair.
In addition to caring for their residents’ other physical, mental, and social needs, nursing home staff members are expected to make sure patients who have trouble moving on their own get regular exercise—or are at least shifted or turned over regularly—and that they have clean clothes and bed linens. Any failure to do that that leads to a bedsore developing may potentially justify a civil nursing home abuse lawsuit in Blue Bell.
A Blue Bell Attorney Can Help File Suit Over a Nursing Home Bedsore
Bedsores are uniquely painful and frightening injuries, and they generally affect people who are already vulnerable to neglect and abuse. In fact, it’s impossible for one to develop unless the person suffering from it has been mistreated.
If a family member of yours has developed a bedsore in a Blue Bell nursing home, your first priority should be getting them immediate professional medical care to make sure their infection doesn’t get any worse. After that, you should reach out to one of our experienced lawyers to discuss what legal action you can take in your loved one’s name. Call Ostroff Godshall Injury and Accident Lawyers today to get started.
