Need Advice for Prolonging Skin Barrier Adherence

I was doing well for almost a year, but now my skin barriers are only lasting a day. I made a few mistakes in general (wet wipes with aloe, not doing things in the right order with adhesive remover, etc). Now I put on adhesive remover really well and wash with soap and hot water thoroughly, then dry up and use adhesive barrier. I need advice, what's the best way to make it stick for a long time? (Got my ileostomy a year ago) Edit: I shaved my stomach but the shaver can only cut so far.

Hi Metal.

Couple of thoughts come to mind: 1) Is it possible you just have a bad batch of your wafers? That can happen occasionally. Maybe reach out to the manufacturer and see what they say - they may send you some replacements if that's the case.

If that's not the case, I've had luck with warming the wafer with a hair dryer for a few seconds before applying and then using an ostomy belt (just one of those cheap one-inch-wide elastic ones) to help hold it in place for a half hour or so after I put a new one on.

Also wondering if your soap might be causing an issue. There's some debate about using soap vs plain water vs wipes etc as to what helps things stick better. I personally am either a plain water or a sensitive skin baby wipes kind of girl followed by thorough drying and then the above-mentioned warming of the wafer.

It's really annoying when things don't stick for very long - hope you can find a solution soon.

If you're working on a year, and you're in a cold climate, a lot of people have issues when they store the wafers and they are cold when they apply them. The glue is not as good. Use a heating pad on low to warm the wafer so it is warm, not hot, before applying and use skin prep. It will help it stick and last.

Hello Meral05.

I'm pleased to see that you have had a couple of excellent replies and I am a firm believer in trying the obvious and simple solutions before progressing to more complex stuff.

I went through that process and one of the  manufacturers solved the problem by sending my a batch that stuck so well I had the devil's own job to get them off. 
Eventually, I made my own baseplates, onto which I stuck the manufactured wafers. I stick my baseplates with Probond adhesive, which is normally used for prosthetics, and I use two belts.

( Have you tried the wafers that are designed to have belt fixtures?) I found that the belts will hold the wafers/baseplates firmly in position for longer than I would tend to press on them by hand. The longer they are pressed to the skin initially, the more likely they are to stick on longer. 

I hope you soon find a solution to this problem that suits you

Best wishes

Bill

Thank you, this thread is very helpful to me as well.

In the same boat

Abe/Paul

Living with Your Ostomy | Hollister

Oh, I forgot to say that I cut the wafer circle in a way that gives it generous room, but I've been doing that for a long time. I will try contacting the manufacturer and the solutions suggested on this thread. I'll keep posting results.

Try not using the barrier wipe before applying your ring/wafer/bag. I use a hairdryer to warm it all up before applying and right after I apply it. Then, I hold pressure on it for a good 5 minutes.

Contact an enterostomal therapy nurse. There are a bunch of causes that we can only speculate. Someone needs to see the stoma area and watch you do a barrier change.

Ok, I found what's going on. When I sleep, my "waste" in the bag doesn't go to the bottom and pushes against the wafer combined with the stomach acid (caking, I believe). Next time, I will use the hair dryer to warm the wafer for stronger sticking, and then I think I'll have to position my stoma wafer lower slightly to make the waste more likely to go to the bottom of the bag. Maybe get the vacuum out of it too. Just stating, I have an Ileostoma and it's roughly 51mm around, I hope that detail helps. (My first winter with a stoma, by the way.)

Hey Metal, from Mississippi. Your head is probably spinning like a top with these replies. It is all good to know these folks tried these things and advised you to what helps them. I understand you shave the area. You stated you give the wafer a trim cut to allow room?? This alone could be your issue. Too much room or space, gap, whatever you call it, I found, will cause excessive leaks and frequent changes. It sucks. I hated trimming these wafers. I am a 38 mm diameter which lucky me, there is a 38 mm size available. (My 1st thought- no cutting! No trimming). And it works. You need a snug fit, no room. Well, let me rephrase, I needed a snug fit. It's what worked for me. Also using a belt helps a lot. I keep the belt on always. It's only 1 inch wide, but it secures and keeps pressure on the wafer as to not allow leaks. That's my opinion and I stand firmly behind it. And also... heating the wafer helps.. but don't use it on your skin to dry it. I had irritation doing that. I manually fan dry my skin (with cardboard) after washing it with warm water and mild soap. It has to be clean and dry though to place that wafer and stick properly but you already know this. :-)

This may sound strange, but sweating. It's got to be an issue. Oily skin too.. hairy skin.. all that matters here for a non-stick situation. I never used glue so can't even imagine using that at all so can't comment. Keep us posted. Very good question dude. -Warrior

I gave it less room this time but I was afraid it would accidentally cut my stoma. I cut 51mm and my ileostoma is 49, I think. The problem I have now is getting the waste to go to the bag, so I put some air in the bag and offset it down to try to decrease potential pancaking.

You say your ileostomy is 49mm. You think. Measure and get a correct size first, and then cut a nice snug fit for the wafer, and use a sealing washer as well that fits close to the stoma. And all you guys, stop using creams, wipes, and soap, and just use warm water and then dry it.

Well, so far I'm on my third day with the barrier staying on, thanks to warming the barrier and holding pressure to it for 5 minutes. It needs improvement, but I'm learning. I didn't cut it too snug because it's a Hollister Ceraplus; its barrier part is made of hard plastic. Rolling up toilet paper into a cylinder and putting it into the stoma bag helped prevent it from pancaking.

Congratulations! It sounds as if you are experimenting and learning. I find that warming the wafer is essential and I keep mind on with a hernia belt +. Once it's been on for a bit the wafer seems to sticks quite well.

Let's hope your new -found technique works.

Best wishes

Bill