Laura used clay models to show the 4 stages of pressure ulcers. Pressure ulcers are wounds that occur from too much pressure on a specific spot on the body, and are commonly found as bed sores on hospital patients. Stage one ulcers show irritation but have not broken the skin yet, and are a little painful. They can go away in a matter of days. Stage two ulcers can be identified by broken skin and tenderness. These require some treatment, such as bandaging and cleaning, but will go away within a couple weeks. The first two stages are represented by orange and red clay, the orange clay being the first layer of tissue underneath the surface of the skin, and the red being irritation. In Stage three, the ulcer penetrates deeper into the tissues of the skin, and fat may be visible. At this stage, green pus and a smell may develop, and a medical professional is needed for treatment. In the clay model, you can see the green ooze and deeper layers of the skin. The worst stage is Stage four, in which the wound has gone as deep as muscle and bone. This is extremely painful and lots of dead tissue will have developed. Surgery may be needed and the sores could be untreatable. These take as long as 2 years to heal or they never do. The model shows dead tissue as brown clay and white clay for bone, showing how serious pressure ulcers can get.
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Laura used clay models to show the 4 stages of pressure ulcers. Pressure ulcers are wounds that occur from too much pressure on a specific spot on the body, and are commonly found as bed sores on hospital patients. Stage one ulcers show irritation but have not broken the skin yet, and are a little painful. They can go away in a matter of days. Stage two ulcers can be identified by broken skin and tenderness. These require some treatment, such as bandaging and cleaning, but will go away within a couple weeks. The first two stages are represented by orange and red clay, the orange clay being the first layer of tissue underneath the surface of the skin, and the red being irritation. In Stage three, the ulcer penetrates deeper into the tissues of the skin, and fat may be visible. At this stage, green pus and a smell may develop, and a medical professional is needed for treatment. In the clay model, you can see the green ooze and deeper layers of the skin. The worst stage is Stage four, in which the wound has gone as deep as muscle and bone. This is extremely painful and lots of dead tissue will have developed. Surgery may be needed and the sores could be untreatable. These take as long as 2 years to heal or they never do. The model shows dead tissue as brown clay and white clay for bone, showing how serious pressure ulcers can get.