Hips are one of the places pressure sores form. Pressure sores tend to form where skin covers bony areas with less tissue under the skin to pad the area. These include the buttocks, elbows, hips, heels, ankles, shoulders, back and back of the head.
If that is what this is, 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 makes a hip wound different is when it takes weight. It takes weight when you lie on your side — at night and during rest, when nobody is watching. Change positions often. If you are in a wheelchair, try to change your position every 15 minutes. If you are in bed, you should move or be moved about every 2 hours. A sore that gets worse overnight and settles during the day is telling you something about position, not about dressings.
A hip wound may not be a pressure sore at all. If it is a surgical incision, different signs apply. For a closed incision, contact your surgeon for more redness or pain, swelling or bleeding, a wound that is larger, deeper, dried out or dark, drainage that increases or becomes thick, tan, green or yellow or smells bad, or a temperature above 100°F (37.7°C) for more than 4 hours. It’s worth knowing which of the two describes your wound before you use either list.
Two more things about pressure sores. The skin around the wound has its own early sign: a stage I sore is a reddened, painful area on the skin that does not turn white (blanch) when pressed. And one rule people get wrong with the best intentions: do not massage the skin near or on the ulcer. This can cause more damage.