Skin Tear

A skin tear is a traumatic wound occurring principally on the extremities of older adults as a result of friction and / or shearing forces which separate the epidermis from the dermis, or separate both the epidermis and the dermis from underlying structures.

In order to appropriately establish wound type and etiology, a thorough wound assessment should be completed as required by state and federal guidelines.

This thorough initial wound assessment or wound reassessment (as a component of a wound status change) is described AHS’ Assessment Guideline. It requires a detailed assessment of the whole patient and their history as well as other factors including duration of the wound, patient’s recollection of the causative factors, complaints of pain, fever, numbness or drainage.