A wound on the back has one feature that sets it apart from most others: the person who has it cannot see it.
That changes how you check it. Check your skin for pressure sores every day, and ask your caregiver or someone you trust to check areas you cannot see. For a wound on the back, that second half is the whole instruction.
The back is one of the places pressure sores form — buttocks, elbow, hips, heels, ankles, shoulders, back, and the back of the head — for the same reason as all of them: skin covers bony areas with less tissue under the skin to pad the area. Too much pressure on the skin for too long reduces blood flow, and without enough blood to nourish it, the skin can die and a sore may form.
What relieves it is the same across the pressure sites. Change positions often — about every 2 hours in bed, every 15 minutes in a wheelchair. Use pillows, foam cushions, booties or mattress pads to reduce the pressure, chosen with a provider based on the wound and the setting. Do not use donut-shaped or ring-shaped cushions, which reduce blood flow to the area and may cause sores. Avoid slipping or sliding when moving, and avoid positions that put pressure on the sore.
One instruction is specific to a back and a bed: lightly dust the bedsheet with medicated talc powder to prevent further friction between the skin and the sheet — but only if the pressure sore is not an open wound.
Because it cannot be seen, the description matters more here than anywhere else. The stages are what a clinician will ask about: a reddened area that does not turn white when pressed, with intact skin; a blister or open sore; an open sunken crater with the tissue below the skin damaged; or damage down to muscle and bone. A dark purple or maroon area, or a blood-filled blister under unbroken skin, is a deep tissue injury, which can quickly become a stage III or IV sore.
And the numbers: a wound that has not started to heal in 2 weeks, or not completely healed in 6, is called non-healing. Most stage III and IV sores will be treated by your provider.