Bed sores, something we all know about, yet dare not think about. All those that saw Clint Eastwood's film "Million Dollar Baby" definitely winced when they saw the scenes featuring Hillary Duff's character dealing with these horrid bed sores and the tragic consequences they can bring. Occurrences involving bed sores are normally benign and do not involve such extreme consequences as seen in the film however, but they do range from the completely harmless to the painful and problematic.
Bed sores are known in the clinical world as a decubitus ulcer. The root cause of which is always pressure on a point of the body which isn't relieved, this causes an ulcer to develop. Bed sores are most prevalent on the bed bound or immobile as they cannot move their body to prevent these sores appearing.
Friction is also another villain that can bring about a decubitus ulcer. In this instance what happens is that a limb may be in a cast and the limb repeatedly rubs against the cast. This can bring about the onset of the ulcers. There are many other things that can cause friction against the body including such seemingly innocuous items such as bed sheets and other common items.
If a patient is bed-ridden or immobile, proper monitoring is essential to prevent bed sores from becoming a real problem. The staff in hospitals, care homes etc. must make sure they are constantly vigilant of the signs that an decubitus ulcer is starting to form and try and relieve the pressure on the patient. This can be done by moving the patient into another comfortable position thus relieving the pressure on the part of the body. This should all be done with the patients comfort in mind, and not be forced upon them. The bed sore can be looked at as a case of negligence if health professionals fail to keep up with their responsibilities of prevention and could lead to being found guilty in a malpractice case.