Tag Archives: stoma

Tips To Take Care of the Skin around Your Stoma

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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.

A Guide to Choosing an Ostomy Bag

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It can be quite overwhelming to choose an ostomy bag. These bags are available in different styles and sizes. Although it comes down to personal preferences, you need to know the pros and cons of each type of ostomy bags.

What is an ostomy bag?

An ostomy bag is a waterproof pouch which is used to collect waste rom urinary tract or digestive system. An ostomy surgery is done to allow bodily wastes to pass through a stoma, an opening, in the abdominal area.

The ostomy bags are worn outside the body but they can be concealed well under the clothing. The major advantage of wearing these bags is that they prevent stool, urine, or gas from leaking out.

Why an ostomy bag needs to be worn?

There are certain conditions that bring up the requirement of normal waste excretion to be bypassed. Such conditions include injuries or obstructions in the bowel, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, and certain abdominal cancers. Also, certain types of treatments require certain parts of large intestine to be put out of their normal function. In that scenario, a diversion is created above that affected portion of the digestive or urinary tract, and the waste is passed through a stoma created in the abdominal area.

The ostomy bags are connected to the stoma to collect body wastes. Since there is no muscle in the stoma, the exit of gas, stool, or urine cannot be controlled. That makes ostomy bags important.

The types of ostomy bags

Colostomy bags

The colostomy is a stoma which is created from a part of the large intestine. It is commonly located on the lower left side of the abdomen. Since the colostomy output is a firm and formed stool, the bag needed for it is a closed-end bag. This bag needs to be replaced a few times per day. if the output is more liquid, the bag that worn is usually drainable.

Ileostomy Bags

The ileostomy is a diversion in the small intestine. Its opening is made on the right side of the abdomen. Since this stoma output is loose and more liquid, it needs to be discarded frequently during a day.

Urostomy Bags

The urostomy is created when small intestine needs to be used for the diversion of urine from ureters. In this scenario, the bladder is either removed or bypassed. The urostomy pouch is attached to the right side of the abdomen.

Choosing right type of ostomy bag

It is very important to choose the right type of ostomy bag. Size is the first thing to consider here. Large bags are appropriate for night time waste collection because they can prevent leakage.

The two distinct types of appliances that you can consider here include one-piece and two-piece variations. You can ask your doctor what right type would be in your case.