Skin Care and Pressure Ulcers

What Skin Does

The three main functions of your skin are protection, sensation, and temperature regulation. Your skin performs these functions for all your body structures and tissues, including layers of fat, muscles, and bones [SEE FIGURE 1.b.1].

Your skin serves as a shield against most chemical and physical agents, such as bacteria, dirt, foreign objects, and ultraviolet rays from the sun. The sensations of touch, pain, pressure, and temperature travel from nerve endings in your skin through the spinal cord to your brain. A major function of the skin is to regulate your body temperature. Sweat glands are always producing water and salts, changing the fluid content of your body. When liquid from your sweat glands evaporates, it helps maintain a stable body temperature. Your body can change the amount of blood that goes to your skin, and this also helps to control body temperature.

Table 1.b.A shows how these skin functions are affected by SCI and what you need to do to prevent problems. It also shows how edema [excess fluid in the skin layers] occurs after SCI and how it can be minimized.

 

[Figure 1.b.1] Skin

 

Additional Points About Skin Care (supplement material)

Courtesy of the the Alberta Education Initiative

1. A word of caution for basic hygiene—if you have dry skin, daily cleansing with soap and water may irritate skin. You may need to eliminate or change your soap. Less frequent washing may also be appropriate to protect skin.

2. If an ingrown toenail develops and a reddened area which may have pus surrounds toenail, cut toenail straight across. Soak toe in salty warm water (1 tablespoon in two cups salt water) twice each day. If it does not heal in 2 to 3 days, ask your homecare nurse to look at it. If it does not heal in a few more days, visit a podiatrist or family doctor.

3. When checking your clothing for areas which may cause pressure, be aware that back pockets, seams and rivets (especially on jeans) and belt buckles can be a source of pressure.

4. Your seating system and how you do pressure releases may need re-evaluation. All the surfaces you transfer to should be reviewed on a regular basis (sleep surfaces, car/vehicle surfaces, bathing and toileting surfaces, etc.). Your health care provider can assist you with a review of all the surfaces you are transferring to and review your transfer techniques.

5. To assist you to stop smoking, call HEALTHLink Alberta at 1-866-408-5465 for contact information on “Stop Smoking Programs” in your community. Nine-five percent of all adults are able to quite smoking on their own. The “Stop Smoking Program” offers you tools to give up the habit.

 Download Pressure Ulcers: What You Should Know (PDF), provided by Paralyzed Veterans of America.