Symptoms of Bedsores
The signs and symptoms of bedsores vary with the stage or condition of skin and muscle at the body site. Pressure sores are staged according to their development and the signs and symptoms vary with the stage. Consequently, the signs and symptoms depend upon the stage of development of the pressure sores. Depending upon what experts are quoted, pressure sores can be categorized into about four or six stages, but no matter which experts describe stages, they all agree it can be a progressively serious problem.

This article presents the stages of pressure sores according to the National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel (NPUAP) that lists six categories but only four stages. The symptoms and signs of all six categories will be presented.

Suspected deep tissue injury: Discolored skin (purple or dark red) is intact or may have blood-filled blisters; there are no breaks or tears in the skin, but patients may experience some pain.

Stage I: Intact discolored skin that still may blanch (skin turns white when pressed with finger); erythema; area may be chronically swollen and warmer than surrounding skin

Stage II: There is partial-thickness loss of skin, including the epidermis and some of the dermis; skin is painful, tender to touch, and ulcers may begin to develop.

Stage III: There is full-thickness loss of skin, including some of the subcutaneous tissue but not through the underlying fascia; ulcers may be deep but do not show muscle or bone. Some patients in stage III and stage IV may not feel pain due to extensive tissue destruction.

Stage IV: There is full-thickness tissue loss with extension to the muscle, bone, tendon or joint, often with pus production that can be colored (yellow, gray, green, brown, or black).