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Hi, caregivers. Yes, I believe you all know that I'd like staying on here because it helps me to heal. As you know my Mom passed on 12/27 and since this is the best way I can deal with that... for now. Anyway, in talking to my sister this came up and I remember using it but not sharing it with anyone. In addition to moving your loved one after a few hours from one to position to another while bed ridden, here's a another note that worked wonders for my Mom's bed sores.

First of all, go to your closest Lowe's or Home Depot and purchase a "real live Aloe Vera plant". Once at home, make sure to say excuse me and thank you to the plant before cutting (yes it's a myth that Mom taught me, but believe it or not it's true); if you don't say those things the leaf will dry too fast.

Now to the point, once you get it, wash it with plain water, cut the thorns from the outside of the leaf and then cut it in half (meaning open the leaf). what goes on the bed sore is the sticky stuff from the inside of the leaf. DO NOT use this if she/he has an open sore already, make sure that Hospice or your doctor provides patches with DuoDERM. But if the sores are just sore and red, use the Aloe Vera.

Good luck and I know it works wonders.

Hugs

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Thank you so much for this! Never would have thought of it on my own. Mom is showing beginnings of skin breakdown.
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Plants die on me. My sister got me a bamboo plant in water and told me that for sure I couldn't kill it. It died. So, if I buy one of these plants, how do I go about caring for it? Keep it in the house? Or outside under a shade? How often to water it? Of course, I could always cheat, and sneak to my neighbor's yard and cut up their aloe vera plant. But, I'd rather not do that....By the way, I never thought to use the plant as preventive measures before the bedsore breaks. Mom has one from when she was in the hospital. It hasn't completely healed. The outer skin has never grown over the 2nd layer skin. Thanks, for the info
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Use lambs wool under them for protection. I was fortunate when the nurse told me about lambs wool , I had some in my sewing room.Also turn the person every hour or two to keep them from getting sore
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bookworm, our aloe vera plant is outside in our yard, it does not need a lot of water, so it should be fine. And please remember as soon as you see red, use it and smear the gooey stuff over the sore. Don't let it come open. If it does, get the duoDERM I mentioned or the patches. They worked wonder And yes, turning your loved one every hour or so definitely helps. Good luck my friends.
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I eventually took a pictured of my dad's backside with a digital camera and showed it to him. Until he saw full on what he was doing to his tailbone and buttocks by lying in bed so many hours a day he was impossible to convince that rolling on his sides and moving to a chair (every hour or so through the day and every few hours at night) was necessary. Once he saw the picture, he gained motivation and quit complaining when we tried to prop him with pillows and get him up into the chair. It was truly my last desperate measure, but it worked to startle him into action, I was terrified that a patch of that size was soon to become an open wound. His case was different than most of those presented in this forum in that he was recovering from a serious period of rehabilitation and is now fine, but still, he needed to know how important what we were trying to tell him was. Move them repeatedly, use sheepskin, use an egg-crate style foam "fingers" mattress pad and as a chair pad; use an air mattress bed pad or just use lots of pillows to get the reddened areas elevated and pressure-free.
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I eventually took a pictured of my dad's backside with a digital camera and showed it to him. Until he saw full on what he was doing to his tailbone and buttocks by lying in bed so many hours a day he was impossible to convince that rolling on his sides and moving to a chair (every hour or so through the day and every few hours at night) was necessary. Once he saw the picture, he gained motivation and quit complaining when we tried to prop him with pillows and get him up into the chair. It was truly my last desperate measure, but it worked to startle him into action, I was terrified that a patch of that size was soon to become an open wound. His case was different than most of those presented in this forum in that he was recovering from a serious period of rehabilitation and is now fine, but still, he needed to know how important what we were trying to tell him was. Move them repeatedly, use sheepskin, use an egg-crate style foam "fingers" mattress pad and as a chair pad; use an air mattress bed pad or just use lots of pillows to get the reddened areas elevated and pressure-free.
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taydatay, I'm very happy that your father is well. Good thinking about taking the picture. I'm surprised that just the pain wasn't enough to let him help. But, I'm glad that all is well. I'm sure this tip of the picture may help some other patient who's stubborn. :) God Bless!
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on bedsores, or any other open wounds...you can use real raw honey! make sure that the sore is protected from getting worse while sitting or laying in bed by using the right protective tools.
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Turn them every hour or 2 n use a ointment you can get from the dr for risins. Also put a pillow under them when u turn them
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Bed sores are our business specialty. Besides the preventive tools that you have spoken of in previous email / comments I would align myself with a DME Company that specializes in this type of adaptive equipment. It would also make loads of sense to hire the services of a Home Health Nurse that also specializes in this specialty.

There are preventive and dynamic specialty mattresses that medicare will pay for in the home. When it comes to dealing with nursing homes it is their fianancial responsibility to provide the speciality equipment that medicare would pay for in the private home. The big however is that they may wait to provide a more aggressive protocol due to the "cost" of providing the correct equipment. They may opt for the cheaper less expensive treatments and equipmewnt due to the high cost of aggressive solutions; finding the right product for the right job. The old saying is true: "You do get what you pay for". When it comes to preventing pressure sores or treating them I will reach for the most aggressive approach and the sooner the better. Pressure sores in certain individuals only take 20 minutes to start; and will takes months or years to heal. So the our motto we have is "the easiest wound to heal is....the one that never happens." Take the steps now to find the specialists that can help prevent or minimize the pressure sore syndrome. Good luck!
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