Pressure Injury Treatment

What Is a Pressure Injury?

Pressure injuries happen when sustained pressure on the skin reduces blood flow to the tissue underneath. Without enough blood flow, cells become damaged and can die. They develop most often over bony areas - the tailbone (sacrum), heels, hips, back of the head, shoulder blades, elbows, and ankles - and in people who cannot easily reposition themselves.

Who Is at Risk?

• Limited mobility from illness, injury, paralysis, or advanced age
• Use of a wheelchair, recliner, or bed for most of the day
• Prolonged skin exposure to moisture
• Reduced sensation, including from diabetes, stroke, or spinal cord injury
• Poor nutrition or dehydration
• Recent surgery, serious illness, or hospital stay
• Medical devices that press on the skin (oxygen tubing, braces, casts)

Pressure Injury Stages

Pressure injuries are classified into six categories based on how deep the damage goes:

• Stage 1 Pressure Injury: Intact skin with a defined area of redness. The area may feel different from surrounding skin: warmer, firmer, softer, painful, or itchy.
• Stage 2 Pressure Injury: Partial-thickness skin loss with exposed dermis. The wound bed is pink or red and may look like a shallow open ulcer or an intact or ruptured blister.
• Stage 3 Pressure Injury: Full-thickness skin loss with visible fat. Undermining and tunneling may be present. Bone, tendon, and muscle are not visible.
• Stage 4 Pressure Injury: Full-thickness skin and tissue loss with exposed or directly palpable muscle, tendon, ligament, cartilage, or bone. Undermining, tunneling, slough, or eschar is often present.
• Unstageable: Full-thickness skin and tissue loss in which the true depth cannot be seen because the wound is covered by slough or eschar. Depth can only be confirmed after the covering is removed.
• Deep Tissue Pressure Injury: A persistent area of intact or non-intact skin that is purple, maroon, or dark with a blood-filled blister. The injury results from pressure or shear damage to underlying soft tissue and may evolve rapidly.

Prevention

Most pressure injuries are preventable with consistent, coordinated care. Prevention includes:

• Surface: Pressure-redistribution mattresses, wheelchair cushions, and overlays matched to risk.
• Skin inspection: Daily head-to-toe skin checks so issues are caught in Stage 1 rather than Stage 4.
• Keep moving: Repositioning at least every 2 hours in bed and every 15–30 minutes in a chair and limiting the head of the bed to 30 degrees when possible.
• Incontinence and moisture management: Prompt cleaning after incontinence, moisture barriers, and absorbent products that wick moisture away.
• Nutrition: Adequate protein, calories, and hydration, coordinated with the physician and, when needed, a dietitian.

How In-Home Pressure Injury Care Works

• Wound assessment: Staging, measurement, photography, undermining and tunneling checks, and pain assessment at every visit.
• Wound bed preparation: Conservative or sharp debridement of nonviable tissue when clinically appropriate and ordered.
• Advanced dressings: Dressing selection based on wound stage, drainage, and infection status foams.
• Pressure redistribution: Surface assessment, cushion and mattress recommendations, and turning-schedule coaching.
• Risk-factor management: Nutrition screening, incontinence care, and device-related pressure prevention.
• Caregiver education: Hands-on teaching for family and caregivers, so prevention continues between visits.

Service Area

Allevio Care Anywhere provides in-home wound care across Utah, Idaho, Nebraska, and Texas. Our providers travel to patients in private homes, assisted living facilities, skilled nursing communities, and other settings where care is needed.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are “bedsore,” “pressure ulcer,” and “pressure injury” the same thing?

Yes. “Pressure injury” is the current clinical, but “pressure ulcer” and “bedsore” are still widely used and refer to the same conditio

Can a Stage 4 pressure injury heal at home?

It depends on many factors such as overall health, circulation, nutrition, the ability to consistently offload the area, and whether infection is controlled. Some Stage 4 injuries heal with coordinated home-based care; others require surgical intervention. Your provider will set realistic expectations and work with your doctor on the right plan.

What is the single most important thing a caregiver can do?

Repositioning on a regular schedule, typically every 2 hours in bed and every 15–30 minutes in a chair, paired with daily skin checks. These two habits prevent more pressure injuries than any single product or dressing.

Can Allevio Care Anywhere providers come to a nursing home or assisted living facility?

Yes. We provide wound care in any setting where the patient lives, including long-term care, assisted living, memory care, and private homes across Utah, Idaho, Nebraska, and Texas.