Pressure Sores Under Colostomy Bag - Seeking Advice

Hi everyone!

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In the last few days, I've noticed when I've been changing my bag that there seem to be two pressure sores appearing underneath where the adhesive sits. I've had my stoma for two years, and I still feel like I'm learning something new every day 🥴. Has anyone ever had this happen to them?

I use Sensura Mio Concave colostomy bags because my stoma is skin level and doesn't really stick out much. I managed to get ahold of my stoma nurses today, but they couldn't really do much other than tell me to contact the GP as there's pus present. I've been on a liquid diet as a rest period for my ongoing flare, so when changing the bag, it's been pretty hard to predict output in between changes. 

Hi there, when I get a sore spot, I usually take some ostomy paste on a Q-tip and spread it on the sore spot and let it dry before I put the wafer on.

I really don't get why people change their whole routine/diet to try and fix something. 🤷‍♂️ If you change what you're doing, your output completely changes too. You have a colostomy, you don't have continual output like an ileostomy can have. Take the bag off, clean the area well, let it air out as long as you can, put new stuff on. If you're still having skin issues, it may be from a reaction to the adhesive and not have anything to do with your output.

I had no choice but to start on the liquid diet! Trust me, I really didn't want to go on it, but it was either that or more surgery. I'm only 25, and I really am trying my hardest to avoid more surgery. I've been on 30mg Rinvoq since last November, and not even that has helped, so that shows how severe I am right now. I've already had 80cm removed 2 years ago, and my surgeon is nervous at the thought of me having more this early on. I came on this forum for support, not to be slated for my choice on what I have been doing.

When you are in remission, yes, colostomies are slower with output, but when you're in a severe flare-up, it is just as fast as an ileostomy.

Thanks for your help

Staying Hydrated with an Ostomy with LeeAnne Hayden | Hollister

The important thing is to contact your surgeon for the sores since there is pus present. You don't want to delay in doing that as it will get worse, the pus and the sores. Maybe the convex is giving you the pressure sores. I know I have major issues when I have tried convexity. Just a thought. But do call your doctor.

Hello,

Consult an ostomy nurse and doctor. You don't want the sores to become worse. The presence of pus indicates infection. Are you wearing a support belt? If so, maybe it's too tight.

As Beth pointed out, convex wafers put downward pressure around the stoma and can induce irritation and damage skin.

Definitely seek professional medical help.

Oh, I thought you chose to go on liquids because of the sores, my bad. 😬

Yep, that's why I only wore them a few times. I'd literally have a bruise around my stoma, and it would be painful to bend.

Hi Scotland, I know we're all different and what works for one is not the same for others, but when I was having a flare-up, I was put on a bland diet: pasta with no sauce, potatoes with no gravy, oatmeal with no sugar, baked chicken, and that seemed to help along with the meds which I have since stopped taking.

That truly is a bland diet. What type of flair is it?

Hi traveler, it was a Crohn's disease flare-up.