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Patient handout · Integumentary / Wounds & SkinPreventing Bedsores at Home: Your Daily Guide
A bedsore (pressure injury) is damage to the skin and the tissue under it from pressure that lasts too long, often over a bone. Moving often, clean dry skin, and good food help prevent bedsores.
Who is at risk
- People who stay in bed or a wheelchair most of the day
- People who cannot feel or move part of the body, leak urine or stool, or eat little
Change position often
- In bed: change position at least every 2 hours.
- In a chair: change position at least every hour. If you can, shift your weight every 15 minutes.
- Lie tilted partly to the side, with a pillow behind the back.
Protect heels and bony spots
- Put a pillow under the calves so the heels float off the bed.
- Use the special mattress and cushion from your care team. Do not use donut cushions.
Care for the skin and eat well
- Clean the skin right away after urine or stool leaks. Pat it dry.
- Use barrier cream, and lotion on dry skin.
- Eat protein at each meal, such as eggs, milk, meat, or beans. Drink fluids, unless you have a fluid limit.
Check the skin every day
- Look at the tailbone, hips, heels, elbows, and back of the head.
- Press any red spot gently. Red that does not fade is an early bedsore.
- Never rub or massage red skin over a bone.
Call your provider today if you have
- A red or purple spot that does not fade
- A blister, open skin, or a dark spot
- Fever of 100.4 F (38 C) or higher with a sore, or redness spreading from a sore: call right away or go to urgent care
Call 911 or your local emergency number if you have
- Fever with new confusion, or you are very hard to wake
- Fever with fast breathing or dizziness
- Cold, clammy, or blotchy skin
This handout supports, not replaces, advice from your own nurse or doctor.
For nurses and nursing students: the teaching guide behind this handout →