HAVING a loved one who is coming to the end of their life can be distressing.
For those who are dying, it can be a confusing time as their body starts to shut down in their final days of life.
hospicenursejulie/tiktokHospice nurse Julie McFadden has revealed the key sign that your loved one might be dying[/caption]
Mottling usually starts at the feet and works its way up, it can look similar to hivesGetty
Nurse Julie said it almost creates a marble-type effect on a patient’s skinGetty
Now, one hospice nurse has revealed a telltale sign that your loved one will die within a few days.
Posting to TikTok, Julie McFadden said purple marbling that occurs on the feet and works its way up is a sign of death.
She explained: “This is a sign of actively dying which means they will be dying within a few hours to a few days.
“It’s called mottling. It’s much easier to see on white skin, it’s a little harder to see on darker skin but it can be there.
“It’s not painful and it’s to be expected,” she said.
In the comments section she added: “Mottling occurs when the heart is no longer able to pump blood effectively.
“The blood pressure slowly drops and blood flow throughout the body slows.”
She added that this causes ‘one’s extremities to begin to feel cold to the touch’.
“Mottled skin before death presents as a red or purple marbled appearance,” she explained.
Researchers in India previously said that mottled skin develops when there is a lack of blood flow to the skin.
This doesn’t always mean that you are dying, but in actively dying patients, it’s common.
In a paper published in the Indian Dermatology Online Journal, the experts said that this may mean more deoxygenated blood is under the skin’s surface, which causes the vivid web – or lace-like pattern.
The medical name for this symptom is livedo reticularis.
Experts at Crossroads Hospice in the US said it’s not painful to the patient.
But they may feel cold, so as a caregiver you can help make their final days more comfortable by helping to keep them warm by covering them with a warm blanket or by being there to address any needs.
Nurse Julie previously revealed how she helps guide her terminally ill patients during their final days.
She also said that another sign that your loved one is about to die, is the death stare.
The term, which the expert coined herself, refers to when a “loved ones seemingly stares beyond you, or stares into the corner of the room or up to the ceiling,
“Sometimes they talk and say they see something but other times they will just stare.,” she explained.
SWNSNurse Julie previously said that another sign to watch out for is the death stare[/caption] Read More