For a patient, a pressure injury can be a devastating experience that is both frightening and extremely painful. Even a small wound requires comprehensive treatment to ensure it both heals effectively and does not develop in severity.
Peter Genyn, a world-record holding Paralympic athlete, knows better than anyone the potential consequences of a pressure injury. After a childhood accident that resulted in a devastating spinal cord injury, Peter is constantly at risk of developing the wound. He has experienced the injury first hand.
‘In hospital and rehab, they showed me pictures of how bad it can be,’ says Peter Genyn, a world-record holding Paralympic athlete, ‘and you really don’t want that.’
For patients with reduced mobility, pressure injuries represent a significant and potentially life-threatening risk.
‘It was on my tailbone,’ Peter explains. ‘It’s just the place where you always sit, so it’s a very dangerous spot. But it was very small: I think two or three millimeters wide and two or three millimeters deep. It was very small but I wanted to make sure it didn’t get any bigger so I spent a lot of time on my bed.’
As an elite athlete with a demanding training schedule and competition circuit, Peter sought expert clinical advice immediately.
‘
When I first went to the hospital with my pressure sore, they told me I should get a better mattress for my bed. They gave me a contact number for Arjo, so I called them up and, I believe the same day, they brought me a test mattress. I’ve been using them ever since.’
At Arjo, we work to ensure patients have access to solutions best suited to their clinical needs. Our range of support surface solutions help to reduce the risk of pressure injuries and provide support to patients with existing tissue damage.
Read more about our range of support surface and the options best suited to your unique clinical needs on our pressure injury prevention section.
To read the full story "The will to win" about the champion Peter Genyn
