My daughter is doing much better with her ostomy. She (we) change her wafer with much less issues. She likes the Hollister New Image convex wafers. We use stomahesive paste. We bought Eakin seals but haven't tried them yet mostly because the paste is working with no leaks.
We changed her wafer on Friday morning. It was on for 6 days. Usually she would go about 4 (wants to change it 2X a week--once during the week and once on the weekend). Timing made that impossible this week.
Anyway, we noticed a very small red ring (maybe an 1/8 of an inch) around her stoma. I think it may be because her wafer was cut a bit too small and maybe rubbed? I cut it a bit bigger yesterday and added the paste.
Questions are:
Is the red ring because the wafer was too tight? Can the paste squeeze against the stoma too much?
The ring didn't really bother her (she has had irritations in the past that have). We also use the powder each time which helps alot.

I just want to make sure we aren't damaging anything. She is doing so well I hate to rock the boat right now. The only thing that still takes time is when she has to take the wafer off. I think we figured out the best way to put a new one on!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Bennie,

Bennie,

The redness could be from cutting the wafer a little too small, or because the seal was starting to fail and some effluent got to her skin. I was advised to always check the underside of the old wafer after you remove it to see if the seal was still good, and if not, where it was starting to leak.

If the red area is not bothering her, it's probably not too serious, and using powder on it should help heal it.

I'm glad your daughter is doing so well.
Anjuli

Glad things are going more soothly for you.

We use the same system for my son and I believe that they advise against using paste but if it is still sticking go with It guess.

My son also gets red around his stoma. I use a little powder just in that area each time we change and get rid of the excess. To much and your wafer will not stick.

We also got a great tip from Shaz once. Buy a bottle of generic maalox/mylanta, original flavor only. Let it sit and pour as much of the clear liquid off as possible. I just repeat this process a few times. A little bit on any red irritated skin and let dry. It was truly a miracle cure for us the one and only time his skin got a little excortiated and red. It cleared up instantly.

Good luck.

Hi Bennie,

Is the red ring on the skin around her stoma or on the stoma itself?

If it is on the stoma then it is almost certainly caused by friction from her wafer. You have done the right thing by cutting the wafer slightly bigger. It's very important not to have the appliance too tight as this can cause damage without your daughter even knowing. She wouldn't feel any pain until the wound was infected because the stoma as no nerve sensors so there is no pain sensation from it. It should heal ok now that you have adjusted the wafer's size, but keep a close eye on it anyway.

If it's the skin that was irritated then a dusting of stomahesive powder should heal it in no time. Spray over the powdered area with a no-sting barrier spray or pat over with a no-sting barrier wipe then allow to dry before applying her wafer.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Take care

Shell

Thanks all.
Shell, the redness is just around her stoma on her skin (not the stoma itself).

She uses the stomahesive powder and wipes the excess away. She has never used the no-sting barrier wipes (although we just ordered them). Do they have to be used? What do they do?

Also I know the stoma shrinks a little after surgery when everything heals. It seems that her stoma shrank but then got a little bigger. It shrank to 1 inch but now seems to be 1-1/8 inches (it is a little oval so this is the long part--the narrow part is about 1 inch). Is this normal?

Hi Bennie,

I'm glad that the soreness is only on her skin because cuts on the stoma can cause problems without you even realising. As the skin is only red and not excoriated or bleeding then it should clear up very quickly.

I like to use the barrier spray or wipe over the powder because it seals the powder to the skin forming a sort of crust. Without the barrier wipe I find that the powder interferes with the seal of the wafer. It's best to blow off any excess powder or use a soft make-up brush before patting over with the barrier wipe. Try not to wipe too much powder off when you do this or you won't get the benefits.

It's normal for a loop ileostomy to be a peculiar shape, however, it shouldn't get bigger again once it's shrunk. Perhaps it was a little swollen because of you cutting the wafer too small? Have you tried the moldable wafers? They are much kinder to the stoma because there are no sharp edges and you can mold them to any shape of stoma.

Good luck and let me know how you get on with the barrier wipes.

Shell

just wondering how things are going with your daughter. i'm having the same problem and can't get it healed. mine is oval and the et nurse said to make sure and cut the opening oval and not a circle. i hope she's healed now!

My daughter is doing OK with her ostomy. She still has a bit of redness near her stoma on her skin. Now it is not a ring around it but it is more irritated on one side (the right side). I think it gets better and worse depending on how the wafer is cut.

Her stoma changes in size slightly each time she changes her wafer. It recently has been about 1 inch high by 7/8 inches wide. I just try to cut the wafer accordingly. We also noticed that it might look like 1-1/8 inches high but when she pulls on her skin and I push down (to get the ostomy hole facing up a bit), the real size is closer to 1 inch.

She tried the no-sting barrier spray but it bothered her skin too much and she broke out in a small rash. So she still only uses the stomahesive paste and the powder. We still haven't tried the eakin seals.

She did try the filtered pouches this week. They seem to leak faster. The last 2 or 3 leaked at the seal where it connects to the wafer (as if it wasn't sealed properly but they were). So she is going back to the regular pouches. She does like the filter pouches because they help a bit with the gas.

It still isn't perfect with her ostomy. The time it takes to change the wafer is much better and quite a bit less stressed. Sometimes the wafers last 4 days and could probably go longer. Sometimes it's a struggle to get them to 3 days.

gela, the powder seems to work for my daughter. I hope you find something to work for you.