The back is one of the bony areas where pressure sores form, along with the buttocks, elbows, hips, heels, ankles, shoulders and the back of the head. For a wound here, the signs to watch for are the ones for pressure sores.
Contact your provider right away if you develop blisters, an open sore, or any signs of infection, such as a foul odor from the sore, pus coming out of the sore, redness and tenderness around the sore, skin close to the sore that is warm or swollen, or fever.
What’s different about the back is friction, not just pressure. Avoid further injury or friction by lightly dusting your bedsheet with medicated talc powder to prevent further friction between your skin and the sheet. Only do this if your pressure sore is not an open wound. And avoid slipping or sliding as you move positions. Read the condition on that first tip carefully: it does not apply if the sore is open.
Position still matters too. If you are in bed, you should move or be moved about every 2 hours.
There is one look worth knowing about at this site, because it does not look like a wound at all. Some pressure sores develop in the tissue deep below the skin. This is called a deep tissue injury. The area may be dark purple or maroon. There may be a blood-filled blister under the skin. This type of skin injury can quickly become a stage III or IV pressure sore. A dark purple or maroon patch on the back, with the skin still intact, is worth reporting rather than waiting to see whether it opens.