Report Shows Ultrasound Speeds Up Healing of Bedsores & Pressure Ulcers

Published on August 3, 2015

The Joint Commission estimates that 2.5 million Americans suffer from bedsores each year. Bedsores, also known as pressure sores or pressure ulcers, are very painful, potentially life-threatening injuries to the skin and underlying tissue resulting from prolonged pressure on the skin that limits blood flow.

These injuries are common among elderly people, whose skin is generally more fragile, thin, less elastic and drier than the skin of younger adults. Also, older adults usually produce new skin cells more slowly. Elderly persons who are bedridden, in a wheelchair, or unable to change positions on their own, are at an even greater risk.

With an estimated 60,000 Americans dying from bedsore complications each year, the need for better policies to prevent bedsores in nursing homes, hospitals, and long-term care facilities is greater than ever. However, when bedsores do happen, the need for low-risk treatment with minimal side effects is ideal, particularly for the elderly. A new report in The Journal of Investigative Dermatology by a team of researchers at the University of Sheffield in the UK suggests that low-intensity ultrasounds may be the answer.

In their study, they found that low-intensity ultrasounds can reduce healing times of skin injuries, like bedsores, by about a third. It works by transmitting a vibration through the skin and wakes up cells in wounds, which helps to stimulate and accelerate the healing process.

Since this procedure merely boosts the body’s abilities to heal a bedsore all on its own, patients do not need to worry about negative side effects. In fact, this treatment option might even be preferable to the use of drugs.

The University of Sheffield researchers plan to carry out further experiments to find out which intensity ultrasound waves work best in healing wounds faster.

If your loved one has suffered a bedsore while in a nursing home, hospital or long-term care facility resulting in serious injury or death, contact our expert nursing home abuse attorneys at Knapp & Roberts today.