The ideal appliance will fit in a way that protects your skin while also providing a durable, and secure fit. Unfortunately, not every ostomate can achieve this balance so easily, so many will experience a breakdown of skin around the stoma.
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This happened to me a short while after getting my ostomy, as my new stoma was still shrinking down from its swollen state.
I was quite inexperienced, so rather than change my appliance more often, I’d try to get 5+ day wear time, which meant that as my stoma became smaller, it left room for my output to eat away at my skin.
As you can see from the photos below, I had fairly deep erosion of the skin, and it hurt a lot. At the time, I had used the “crusting technique”, which involves putting stoma powder on the exposed, raw part of my skin, dust it off and apply a barrier using either barrier wipes or cavilon spray.
You do this a few times to build up protection on the skin, and to allow the wafer to stick to something other than the powder. This technique does work for many people, but it worked very slowly for me.
More recently, as I’ve been in between wafer samples, I began to get more breakdown of the skin.
I attempted to remedy this using the crusting technique, but I wasn’t getting the results I wanted; so instead, I opted to simply use a barrier ring without any powder or barrier wipes.
The results impressed me, and my skin has probably never looked that good around the stoma.
And here’s another example of how quickly this method can heal damaged skin:
Now, I continue to use a barrier ring when I notice more breakdown of the skin. I may continue to use them more regularly, but they are quite expensive and I’m not done trying new appliances that might offer a better fit.
Here’s a video showing how I change my appliance, including how I use barrier rings.
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Caution: Before you change your routine, you should check with your stoma nurse first, unless you’re willing to experiment on your own.
INFO: If you’re interested in the “crusting technique” for healing peristomal skin, check out THIS article.
QUESTION: What techniques have you tried to heal up your skin?
Hi Kailee, Welcome to the forum. Skin around the stoma should be similar to any where on the body. But that’s in a very perfect world. Have you been using any belts or supports that is putting on to much pressure. If it’s moisture from the stoma while changing try wrapping some gauze around the stoma. Sorry for all the questions but also have you showed this to a stoma nurse. Too many products can sometimes add to the problem.
Thank you! I have not been using any sort of support or belt. I also saw a stoma nurse several times as at first the skin was irritated due to leakage. Last time, I showed her the gray skin but she said that “it looked fine." She shared a link with me to self diagnose and that is where I found out that the gray/white skin around the stoma indicated too much moisture. When I change the barrier, which is now every 3-4 days, I shower with everything off and let the skin breathe afterward for about 30 minutes. Should I try leaving everything off for longer to help the gray skin?
Kailee, just wondering if you use a flat or convex flange. If your stoma protrudes an inch or more, you are probably fine with a flat flange, but if it doesn’t protrude, even if only on one side, you might have leaks with a flat flange. If that’s the case, you might be better with a light convex flange. Just a thought.
Laurie
Hey Laurie,
Thanks for the advice! I use a flat flange.
Hello,
My skin seems to be gray around the stoma which indicates I have damp skin. Should I use a powder and then the barrier ring? Or just try the barrier ring? Any insight is helpful.
Hi Jenny, and welcome. Might you be able to give your skin an occasional opportunity to “rest” and dry out without the pouch and wafer? I believe that Eric wrote about that (I can’t find the posting just now), used a cloth to catch the output. I pictured him reclining on his couch with a good book or tv program whilst caring for his skin in this way. LL
Hi Jenny, Welcome to the forum. Have you tried a protective barrier sheet underneath your wafer. Plus are you getting a good fit around the stoma ie measuring well. Getting the skin dry before any base or wafer is important. Wrapping the stoma in gauze to keep moisture off. Plus is your stoma flush or have a spout.
I admire your determination ? and you will get this ?
That sounds awful ? I have a problem with adhesives blistering my skin. Have you tried coating the skin with calamine and letting it dry before sticking the wafer on? I got a steroid inhaler I spray on before the calamine as well. Together this seems to be helpful for me. I’m sure others will have some great suggestions for you.