Saturday 21 March 2015

Air Mattresses for Bed Sores



My mother is bed ridden for over 2 years and has developed bed sores due to lying in bed without being able to turn over on her own. The back has developed abscesses and wounds. She has been put on antibiotic treatment. The hospital, on her last visit, told me to arrange for an air mattress for her. I did not have much information on these mattresses. To start with I thought that the bubble structure of these mattresses helps such patients because there are air channels between the bubbles and some portion of the skin does not come in contact with the mattress. However while searching for the right product I found that there are many excellent products available. In fact some products will not only prevent bedsores but can help patients heal.

The first is a mattress which comes with a pump. The pump needs to remain on while the patient is on bed an in this case 24 by 7. The bubbles on the mattress inflate and deflate sequentially while the patient is on it. This allows the contact between the body and the mattress to break and air can circulate when the contact is not there. How it works is that half the bubbles on the mattress deflate while the others half support the body. When the first set inflates the other set deflates. The product is available at amazon for INR 2400 (USD 40). A picture and link are shown below.



The Second type of mattress I discovered is even better for someone who has large bedsores already formed, like my mother. This mattress has the sequentially inflating and deflating bubbles as the first one. In addition the mattress has micro holes which can, via air loss, allow air to pass through and ventilate the patient's back. This would be a god sent for someone like my mother and hopefully her bed sores will heal. As I am writing this I have placed an order for the “KosmoCare Bubble Air Mattress MM2” which looks like a good value for money product. The product is available at amazon for INR 4,200 (USD 70). A picture and link are shown below.


I found some other products which are more expensive and one that was cheaper. The cheaper product had ridges instead of bubbles and the expensive products did not really offer anything more.

I am hoping that her wounds and sores will heal soon. I will update this post with the progress. 





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