Cause, symptoms, and how to treat bed sores naturally
What are Bedsores?
Fighting Against Bed Sore With These Effective Home Remedies Bedsores, also known as pressures sores is a skin lesion that results from a patient’s prolonged immobility when a person lies in bed or sits in a wheelchair for a long time, it can limit the blood circulation to the skin and nearby tissues, causing bedsores.
This condition can cause a lot of pain and inconvenience to the patients. The symptoms of bedsores vary. Depending on the severity of the symptoms, the national pressure ulcer advisory panel divided this condition into 4 stages. And no matter what stage the patient is in, one thing must ensure it is to practice treatments because if not treated properly, it can worsen in time and lead to more severe infections.
Symptoms of bed Sore
- Swelling
- Pus-like draining
- Tender areas
- Itching on the skin surface.
- Changes in skin color
Causes of bedsores
- Smoking
- Poor nutrition and hydration
- Physical inactivity
- Pressure: Constant Pressure on the body part can lead to bedsores.
Risk factors
Poor nutrition & hydration: The human body needs proper vitamins, supplements, enough fluids, calories, and minerals in the daily diet if any of these are missing the body starts start breaking off the tissues.
Medical conditions: health problems such as diabetes vascular disease are also a cause of bedsores which affect blood flow to body organs and thus damage the tissues.
In this article, we provide top helpful tips on how to fight against bed sores.
How to treat bed sores naturally
Saline water
Saline water has been used for cleaning skin conditions for centuries, and no surprise, it’s the ultimate tip for bed sores as well. It can sterilize the wounds again certain bacteria that may cause infections and promote the healing process.
How to use:
- Boil a glass of water with 2 tablespoons of salt, let it cool down.
- Use the solution to clean the sores. It is perfectly safe to perform this action twice a day for several days.
Goldenseal
This herb is a lifesaver for many bed sore sufferers. Its powerful antiseptic can prevent infection. Goldenseal also helps relieve inflammation and pain thanks to its soothing effects.
How to use:
- Make goldenseal tea by steeping 1 teaspoon of goldenseal powder in a cup of hot water.
- Let it cool and use this tea to clean the affected area twice a day. The sores will soon dry up and heal nicely.
Aloe Vera
Aloe Vera gained its popularity for treating so many skin conditions, including how to get rid of skin tags, and now, we know one more skin ailment Aloe Vera can treat – bedsores. Its powerful healing and curative properties do wonders to soften and soothes the affected areas, thus providing relief from pain and itchiness.
How to use:
- Apply Aloe Vera gel to the sores and let it dry. You can cover the sores with gauze as well.
- Perform 3 times a day and you will find the redness will gradually fade and the sores will heal faster.
Comfrey plant herb
This herb also proves helpful in the fight against bed sores. Its leaves and root are packed with medicinal properties which helps support faster healing. Comfrey also effectively reduces pain and inflammation.
How to use:
- Make a paste from slippery elm as well as comfrey leaves in an equal amount and directly apply the paste on the sores.
- Cover with the bandage and leave it overnight. Clean with saline water the next morning. You can do this once a day.
Turmeric
Turmeric with its powerful healing power is a great remedy for many skin lesions, including bed sores. Then, it can act as a disinfectant and astringent to keep the sores clean and healed effectively.
How to use:
- Sprinkle turmeric powder into the affected area. Cover well with bandages. You can do this action twice a day.
- You can also benefit from turmeric by taking it orally. Warm turmeric milk is perfect to boost the body’s ability to fight against bed sores
Coconut oil
This versatile ingredient deserves a spot on this list. The fatty acids in coconut oil reduce inflammation and moisturize the bedsores, prevent it from damages caused by constant pressure. At the same time, antioxidants found abundantly in coconut oil are the best to speed up the healing process.
How to use:
- Directly apply coconut oil to the affected areas 2 to 3 times a day.
- Another choice is to massage your skin with this oil.
- This action will improve blood circulation and heal the sores faster.
Allyson
Lyson is also a worth-mentioning remedy for bed sores. Lyson does a great job of keeping germs and bacteria at bay, thus preventing infections and promoting healing.
You just simply benefit from a lyson by using a spray bottle to spray it to your affected area.
Vitamin C
Vitamin C can speed up the healing of bedsores, thanks to its potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Fruits that are rich in vitamin c include citrus fruits, papayas, peppers, pineapples, guava, etc.
Honey
Honey is famous for its ability to treating skin conditions, mostly because of its antiseptic properties which reduce the risk of infection. Honey also provides relief from pain and itchiness caused by bedsores.
How to use:
- Make a mixture of sugar and honey. Apply it to the affected area twice a day.
- Many people choose to spread honey to a big clean banana leaf and lie on it for a few hours. It does the trick just as well.
Re-positioning frequently
Changing positions frequently is important to relieve the pressure on the existing sores and prevent new ones from building up. So it is recommended for patients with bedsores to re-position every 2 hours.
Collaborations: Home Remedies for bed sores
Prevention of bedsores
You can prevent bedsores by changing your positions regularly to avoid stress on the skin more helpful way is to take care of your skin eat well and drink enough fluid, avoid smoking and mental stress, exercise is said to be good for bed sores prevention.
- Look in the skin for any warning signs for bed sores
- Protect the skin change bedding frequently if required.
- Apply herbal or organic lotion to the skin to dry skin.
- A recent study has revealed that doing exercise from your bed can relieve bed sores by 30%.