Having an ostomy requires you to take care of the skin around your stoma. A hole in the abdomen that goes directly into the stoma could mean contact irritation in the skin. The skin has to deal with the adhesives coming from the ostomy flange/wafer. And there is a pretty bigger chance of a part of the skin coming into the contact with stoma output. All these factors can lead to skin and stoma irritation. You have to make sure that the skin around your stoma is very healthy. Good news is that you can prevent this irritation.

Check your ostomy system visually every day

To make sure that the skin around your stoma is healthy, you are going to check the stoma and skin around it on daily basis. Make sure that you are not wearing your ostomy pouch system for more than 3 – 5 days consistently. The ostomy flange should be checked on daily basis to make sure that it looks like it should. Any signs of creases, wrinkles, stoma output, and small leak should be taken seriously. These changes in the flange might lead to an itchy feeling and redness. If anything looks wrong, you need to take replace the bag immediately.

Utilizing the best of ostomy pouch changes

Remember, you cannot choose between wearing and not wearing an ortomy pouch. If you have to wear it, you have to wear it. And you might have to wear it all the time. If you have to care for your skin around stoma, you can do it when changing pouch. Paying attention to the health of your skin during pouch change can help your skin heal and, more importantly, remain protected. First of all, you have to make sure that your skin is dry and clean. When changing the pouch, you might see remnants of old adhesive left behind from the ostomy baseplate. A new product by Coloplast may be very helpful in keeping your stoma skin healthy. You can use Brava skin wipes to keep the skin clean and disinfected.

Using stoma powder

Stoma powder may be your best bet if the skin around your stoma is red, weepy, or irritated. But if your skin is not healing properly and, instead, getting worse, you can call your doctor for an appointment in order to get the skin checked. That is very important because you need to make sure that there is not a more serious issue. A damaged skin means that it needs help. Pay attention to it and have it medically analyzed on priority.