Preventing skin issues and pressure sores in persons with SCI

It is arguably among the top 3 issues of concerns/fear for persons with a spinal cord injury.  Hopefully, its importance has been drilled into your brain during your initial hospital and rehab stay but it happens to the best of us.  We hear the dreaded word "flap surgery" and look for the closest closet to hide in.

The human body was not designed to really accommodate paralysis when you think about it.  Pushing your manual wheelchair continuously, transferring in and out of your wheelchair, sticking catheters in and out of your bladder, and sitting on your rear end for hours are not the types of activities that your body can tolerate long term.

When it comes to skin issues, your diet, age, and relieving of pressure play major roles in the eventual outcome.  Yet, despite your best efforts, you always feel like teetering on the brink of disaster when it comes to the health of your skin.

The Reeve Foundation has developed THIS PAGE that goes into all the details of pressure sores and how to prevent them.