Ingenious Hospital Technique for Draining Ostomy Bag from the Outside In
I wish I had remembered this earlier!! I just tried this out and it works wonders relieving most of that burning pain and further damage by the acidic feces sitting on the skin, eroding it away under the seal in between changings..since I couldn't yet stand or walk much; immediately after my surgery 3 yrs ago, an attendant came by, poured plain water into the ostomy pouch, swished it around a bit, then simply drained it into a bedpan after repeating this a few times, it ran almost clear...
I now realize this would be a great solution to my current problem of leakage and skin damage/burning pain to just do this whenever draining the bag after using my thumbs for the heavier waste...this helps flush out the acidic poop away from the sensitive, already damaged skin under the seal where I can't get to it without changing the whole setup before the end of the week....this greatly reduces the burning of the acid sitting on the abdominal and peristomal skin, eroding it even further..it makes it feel a lot better without having to change the whole thing prematurely, even if it does leak internally.
Also, I just received the new adhesive I will try out Sunday which should stop the leaks for good, plus a few free samples of a No-Sting Skin Barrier Film to apply under it first, directly on the skin itself. Hopefully all this should prevent any further damage and give it a decent chance to heal, finally, especially since I must depend so heavily on it!
Being without both pain and leaks would be heavenly!
Combo of Prophylactic Measures is Best to Avoid Leakage, Skin Damage/Acid Erosion Burning Pain!
This seems to be what I am finding, especially in my case with an "end loop ileostomy" which is wrought with frequent leakage and skin damage from the acidic feces being generated and expelled....first, at least one effective skin protective barrier applied directly on the skin, THEN a durable adhesive over that before applying the final ostomy faceplate/wafer to help minimize and prevent the leakage, both internal and external in the following days before changing everything again...
ALSO, FLUSHING OUT the bag with plain water poured in, (USE A PLASTIC FUNNEL) swished around, then drained at least several times a day to PREVENT the unavoidable acidic feces from even getting a chance to seep into and under the seal, sit on the skin and cause damage, burning, etc. Also, frequent flushing after eating and when the bag gets about 1/4 to 1/2 full, the acid is expelled and has much less chance of eroding the seal internally.
(I ALSO use a homemade "pressure gasket.0-ring") to press down over the seal around the stoma wafer when finished flushing it and putting my pants back on with a regular outside man's belt.....the final touch to several other "prophylactic" measures to minimize and prevent problems BEFORE they occur, and MAXIMIZE the life of the seal itself between changing times...this is something that you really must keep on top of daily!!
All that leakage has been eliminated so far and pain reduced 90 ....there should be further improvement as all that damaged skin finally gets a chance to heal up! I still need to experiment with different skin barriers, but it looks like I am definitely on the right track....
(How great it is to stand and walk upright again without all that belly pain!)
I got to check the skin condition a few hours ago, it seems my "Fecal Flushing" efforts are working; I can see and feel a noticeable 40-50 improvement in the surrounding skin condition; still "residually raw" sore from all the previous acid erosion, but apparently no new damage...will repeat another week of 2 skin barriers under the adhesive, keep up the flushing, and assess again next Sunday.
At least all that debilitating burning pain has subsided, even at the end of the week, so I know that all that flushing was no "fluke"...
