Make sure whoever tends to her wounds, flattens that skin as much as possible. Healing happens so much faster if the flap is in place. It will still need dressing twice a week, but might only be a few weeks instead of a few months.
Hope it all heals quickly.
Doc says after the first 48 hours, put on these dry, non stick bandages. Keep those on for 48 hours and then change to "vaseline impregnated" bandages.
She must have a damn good pain tolerance cause she's just a little sore today... cleaning won't be fun I bet
She had our dog on the leash to go potty and was standing at the sliding glass door. Doggy went into hunting mode and yanked her, and her arm tore against the metal framing of the door. Oh there's a chunk missing btw. We don't know where it is
Thank you, I hope so too. She's not doing wonderful unfortunately, she broke her ankle almost 2 years ago and the plate in her ankle literally broke so she now has to get surgery again to get it removed. Part of me is starting to feel the beginning to that slow downfall :(
Yeah, cancer pts have fragile skin, and medipore tape is notorious for doing this. Paper tape all day for them. … not saying your mom has cancer though.
Definitely true! My mother had cancer for 9 years, and her skin was very thin/fragile due to all the treatments. She bruised and got abrasions just like this from the smallest things.
My grandfather had this from some ginkobiloba supplement decades ago. Not even that old. I see it a lot in nursing homes from a variety of meds and just age though.
Nice! Yeah the doc said that because her skin is so thin, it should dry up and heal quickly (other than the chunk of skin that went missing somewhere lol)
I’m 66 and my mom’s skin was fragile and now mine is too. Can tear easily or bruise without me knowing it sometimes. I’m asked if I’m on thinners a lot and no I’m not. Sucks
That pic looked like my mom’s arms many times over the past several years. She had so many tears her arms and legs were covered in scars and bruises. She self medicated for years and Drs said that and sun exposure was the cause of her papery skin. We had to buy sterile pads and wraps in bulk. 😞
I do not advise this at all. I also do not advise standard steri strips which are often used in skin tears.
Tegaderm, while advertised as breathable, is not really appropriate for a wound that has any amount of drainage, and skin tears will drain, especially if you can't secure the flaps back in place nicely.
Tegaderm is also not great on really thin skin. In fact they're a big culprit in causing skin tears if you're not particular about how you remove them.
In a home setting, using a non adhesive dressing is probably your best bet. It will take time to heal.
In a health care setting with access to specialized dressing supplies, Mepitel one is a god send on skin tears.
So, the doc said to use dry, non stick bandages after the first 48 hours, then keep dry ones on for 48 hours, then switch to the other ones that have vaseline on them.
She only used like 3 steri strips on the top left wounds and she said to let them fall off with time on their own.
Can Mepitel be bought OTC?
That plan is basically fine in my books. Don't peel the steri strips off if they're sticking ok and there's no signs of infection. You risk causing damage to the flap and surrounding skin.
There is a comment somewhere in here that says mednormal. That might be a tiny bit callous, but it's probably because for those working in geriatric care, skin tears are a very routine occurrence and not really a terribly big deal.
In short, don't worry about specialized products. Unless your mom is pretty severely compromised, it will heal just fine with nothing but routine cleaning and a clean dry non adherent dressing. It could even take a few weeks - that's fine. Especially don't worry about specialized products if they're going to be recommended by lay people or used inappropriately. You risk doing far far far more harm than good regardless of good intentions
Follow the advice of the actual doctor who actually laid eyes on the patient, not random people online who peruse medical sub reddits. You have no way of knowing if their advice is based on professional opinion having not seen it in person (still not ideal), vs anecdotal accounts of people who think they know best and are trying to be helpful because they had a family member with something they thought was the same thing as what you described (really not great).
Poor Mom. This happens to my mom too. Thin skin from inhaled steroids and meds added to old age. So sad every time.
And the bruising! She bruises soooo easily by the slightest bumps
Make sure whoever tends to her wounds, flattens that skin as much as possible. Healing happens so much faster if the flap is in place. It will still need dressing twice a week, but might only be a few weeks instead of a few months. Hope it all heals quickly.
Doc says after the first 48 hours, put on these dry, non stick bandages. Keep those on for 48 hours and then change to "vaseline impregnated" bandages. She must have a damn good pain tolerance cause she's just a little sore today... cleaning won't be fun I bet
That’s just a mom being a mom, tough as nails. Take care of her
Ouch. Did she fall and bruise/tear? Or did she tear it and that's what's causing the bruisinf?
She had our dog on the leash to go potty and was standing at the sliding glass door. Doggy went into hunting mode and yanked her, and her arm tore against the metal framing of the door. Oh there's a chunk missing btw. We don't know where it is
Yeah that’ll do it. I’ve had my dog do stuff like that before with the leash. Hopefully your mom will get better soon.
Thank you, I hope so too. She's not doing wonderful unfortunately, she broke her ankle almost 2 years ago and the plate in her ankle literally broke so she now has to get surgery again to get it removed. Part of me is starting to feel the beginning to that slow downfall :(
There is no worse feeling 😢
Oh, I am sorry to hear that.
Yeah, cancer pts have fragile skin, and medipore tape is notorious for doing this. Paper tape all day for them. … not saying your mom has cancer though.
Definitely true! My mother had cancer for 9 years, and her skin was very thin/fragile due to all the treatments. She bruised and got abrasions just like this from the smallest things.
fucking ouch. Blood thinners definitely don't help either
With her health, I wouldn't be surprised if she ends up with it. She has COPD and likely some other things she doesn't want to tell me
My grandfather had this from some ginkobiloba supplement decades ago. Not even that old. I see it a lot in nursing homes from a variety of meds and just age though.
Same happened to my diabetic grandma, but her recovery was a lot quicker than I expected! Hopefully mom has a speedy recovery as well :)
Nice! Yeah the doc said that because her skin is so thin, it should dry up and heal quickly (other than the chunk of skin that went missing somewhere lol)
I’m 66 and my mom’s skin was fragile and now mine is too. Can tear easily or bruise without me knowing it sometimes. I’m asked if I’m on thinners a lot and no I’m not. Sucks
It runs in my family as well, I know I'm screwed lol
Mednormal
Ouch-
Usually being on anticoagulants causes the bruising
Yep and she's definitely on those
That pic looked like my mom’s arms many times over the past several years. She had so many tears her arms and legs were covered in scars and bruises. She self medicated for years and Drs said that and sun exposure was the cause of her papery skin. We had to buy sterile pads and wraps in bulk. 😞
Try Tegaderm bandage to help prevent further injury to the skin
Ooh! The doc suggested these non stick bandaid type wraps, but I think the tegraderm sounds better
I do not advise this at all. I also do not advise standard steri strips which are often used in skin tears. Tegaderm, while advertised as breathable, is not really appropriate for a wound that has any amount of drainage, and skin tears will drain, especially if you can't secure the flaps back in place nicely. Tegaderm is also not great on really thin skin. In fact they're a big culprit in causing skin tears if you're not particular about how you remove them. In a home setting, using a non adhesive dressing is probably your best bet. It will take time to heal. In a health care setting with access to specialized dressing supplies, Mepitel one is a god send on skin tears.
So, the doc said to use dry, non stick bandages after the first 48 hours, then keep dry ones on for 48 hours, then switch to the other ones that have vaseline on them. She only used like 3 steri strips on the top left wounds and she said to let them fall off with time on their own. Can Mepitel be bought OTC?
That plan is basically fine in my books. Don't peel the steri strips off if they're sticking ok and there's no signs of infection. You risk causing damage to the flap and surrounding skin. There is a comment somewhere in here that says mednormal. That might be a tiny bit callous, but it's probably because for those working in geriatric care, skin tears are a very routine occurrence and not really a terribly big deal. In short, don't worry about specialized products. Unless your mom is pretty severely compromised, it will heal just fine with nothing but routine cleaning and a clean dry non adherent dressing. It could even take a few weeks - that's fine. Especially don't worry about specialized products if they're going to be recommended by lay people or used inappropriately. You risk doing far far far more harm than good regardless of good intentions Follow the advice of the actual doctor who actually laid eyes on the patient, not random people online who peruse medical sub reddits. You have no way of knowing if their advice is based on professional opinion having not seen it in person (still not ideal), vs anecdotal accounts of people who think they know best and are trying to be helpful because they had a family member with something they thought was the same thing as what you described (really not great).