Need Help with Redness & Soreness Around Stoma

I have redness and I'm sore around my stoma. What can I do to heal it or make it feel better? I feel a little pain when the bag rubs against it. Is there some kind of ointment that I can use to make it feel better?

Do you use a barrier ring? If not, give it a try, hun... I was the same, now not a chance will I go without one.

Hi.. I have had that before. I now use stoma powder and skin barrier with every change of the bag. It usually clears up pretty fast! If I were you, I wouldn't use an ointment. That could get in the way of the adhesion of the flange.
Good luck and keep us posted.

Hi.. I have had that before. I now use stoma powder and skin barrier with every change of the bag. It usually clears up pretty fast! If I were you, I wouldn't use an ointment. That could get in the way of the adhesion of the flange.
Good luck and keep us posted.

Yes, I do use the ring...thank you...just wanted to see what makes it feel better

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So that's all, just the powder and skin barrier... I use that every time I change the bag... probably need to change my routine

Do you have a user-friendly stoma where you could leave the bag off for a while?

Try the 'crusting technique'. Google it. It involves the stoma powder and the spray. Check with the nurse if it is a yeast infection and then use an anti-fungal ointment. Abracadabra, it's gone.

Just some thoughts and ideas to try and help you out... You might have already, but have you tried the Kayra powder by Hollister? Other powders didn't do anything or I am allergic... just a thought. You could also try calamine lotion with a skin barrier wipes, Pepto with a skin barrier wipes, or liquid Maalox with a skin barrier wipes... are you allergic to the barrier rings by chance? (just a thought)... if you haven't already, maybe try paste... I hope you get your skin healed. Sore skin is no fun.

Hi all, just a passing thought: how close to the stoma are you cutting the hole? The gap between the flange and stoma should be small. Also, how often do you change your flange and bag?

I was taught to place the barrier ring as close to the stoma as possible. If you go ringless, the same rule applies - get as close as you can around the stoma. Make sure you check your cut to ensure there are no sharp edges around the hole.

Hi! I'm answering on my mom's login ;-) I'm a RN who takes care of my mom who has a colostomy. My mother had the same issue in the beginning. She was using a flat wafer with no barrier ring underneath and it was not allowing the wafer to lay flat around her stoma no matter how closely it was cut around the stoma. Stool was leaking underneath and creating redness and skin breakdown. We changed her bag to the two-piece system with a convex wafer. It was easier to cut the opening in the wafer more closely around the stoma since I could visualize it better. In addition to that, we used a barrier ring, skin barrier wipes, and the stoma powder. And, as someone else commented, I would have it checked out for yeast. This is not medical advice, just the process I use..

I slowly/gently remove the old device, clean the stoma and the surrounding skin with a soft cotton pad and warm tap water. Let it dry. Then I measure the stoma and cut my wafer slightly smaller than the stoma to ensure a close fit, without it being too tight. Put that aside. I take the skin barrier prep pad and go around the entire area that the wafer covers, including the irritated area, getting right up to, but not touching the stoma. Let it dry. I then put a little powder over the area that is irritated only. With a soft cotton ball, I spread the powder around over the irritated area until it is barely visible, removing the excess powder if any. I then take the skin prep wipe again and go over the area very gently where I put the powder to seal in the powder, creating a layer of barrier and powder, which acts like a thin clear protective layer. I do this two times...skin prep, powder, skin prep, powder, and wipe off the excess (I blow on it to get the excess off ;-)). If you leave excess powder on, it might interfere with the adhesion of the barrier ring tape. Then I apply the barrier ring (my mom uses half since it was only leaking on the bottom). I stretch it to the needed shape to fit closely up to the stoma. I then warm up the convex wafer between my hands for a minute before applying it to make it adhere better. After putting that around the stoma, I press it down gently around the stoma/over the barrier ring to create a good seal. I move my fingers around the area around the stoma with light pressure for about 1 minute. Then put the bag on the wafer. I use the lubricating gel (forgot the name) inside the bag so the stool slides down to the bottom of the bag more easily and does not hang around the stoma. If my mom has stool buildup around the stoma at any point, I remove the bag only and gently clean the area around the stoma so it has less of a chance to go underneath the wafer, then click the bag back on. This is tricky because when wiping you don't want to push the stool under the wafer, so use your better judgment if you do this. I know this is a lot of information. However, I would have loved to have this information when we were trying to figure this all out. I am a Neuroscience RN, so this GI stuff is somewhat foreign to me! lol! This has helped my mom's skin tremendously, and she no longer has any skin irritation. I think the skin barrier, powder, convex wafer, and barrier ring might solve your problem. Thanks for listening. Good Luck. Hope this helps ;-)

Kathy,

Mine did the same thing. I just had my ileo in Jan of this year and she has gone below the skin level.

Why not change before you start to leak and avoid the hassle/stress?

A user-friendly stoma is where you don't have output constantly. When I change my bag, I can leave my bag off for upwards of an hour with no real worries of having any output. I get out of the shower and just lay in bed with the ceiling fan on, blowing cool air on my stoma area.

So if it starts to leak, do you change it right away? Everyone has a different time frame on when their bag needs to be changed. Some change it daily, some weekly, etc. Them giving you a specific time frame on when to change is just a generalization and not something specific as everyone is different.

I'm not sure how or why a person would mess with it to make it leak intentionally, that would be just plain weird. It's obvious you need to adjust something with your setup if you're leaking daily. Have you called an ostomy nurse to take a look?

Take the picture, send it to your doctor, they can look at it and possibly make a diagnosis without you having to go in.