Hi.... I just had surgery about 2 weeks ago and I'm starting to experience excruciating burning around my stoma. It lasts anywhere from a couple minutes to an hour. This is the 2nd time it has happened. I saw my doc and he said I had a "separtion" and when anything comes out of my stoma and touches it, it becomes irritated. My questions are Has anyone else experienced this and is there anything I can do to ease the pain? Is there anything that makes it worse? I have been eating pretty bland up until a couple days ago, but nothing spicy or acidic. Mostly soup and chicken. Drinking lots of water and Gatorade. It feels like acid is being poured over my stoma! I have been taking vicodin, but it doesn't really do much for the burning. And, does it get easier? I am so frustrated, I know its only been 2 weeks, but I have never experienced pain like this. It's worse than when I woke up from surgery. I just want this part to be over! Please help!

I had take-down surgery 2 months ago but when i has ostomy I had awful burning but I never had doc tell me it was a "separation issue" so I don't know if we experienced the same thing. What I had was awful burning & itching & I just assumed that bag leaked yet I never saw evidence of that when I changed it so may be I had this separation issue. Anyway, the only way I got any relief from this happening was to add an ostomy supply to my regimine that I can't remember the name of! It was an adhesive ring that you molded around stoma (I'm sure someone here can help w/ name). It may have been called Coleman ring? It prevented stool from going anywhere but into bag. It couldn't get to sides of stoma or under wafer. I had a few itching/burning incidents even after I used it but it really made a difference in how long I could go between those awful moments. Usually a change of bag and a new adheseive ring would stop it from happening. I think the paste would achieve the same results but it takes skill & I found it to be too hard to do because it was all so new to me & I was unsure how to do any of it. The ring just gets cut (or ripped) to fit & stuck on. Good luck. It gets soooo much easier, btw. Hang in there.
Peggy

It's me again-I looked up the name of those moldable rings. The main ones on the market are the Eakins seal & I think, Convatek (sp?) is the other one. I tried both & much preferred the Eaking brand. You can ask your supply company which one they carry and have them send a few samples for you to try before you buy. Hopefully they will give you some relief. I would also post your issues on the Ostomy forum here. Folks there were a God-send to me when I had ostomy issues. Best of luck.
Peggy

I would recommend getting an ostomy belt. An elastic bland that connect to the wafer/bag and goes around your body. Have ones of those saved me from the burning. It hold the wafer/bag nice and snug to the body. For me, it also help push the stoma further into the bag and away from my skin.

Thanks alot for responding guys. I'll try your advice!

It sounds like some fecal matter maybe getting under your wafer.
Try adding an Eakin seal or an Adapt (hollister) seal. If you need convex, Adapt comes in flat and convex.
Your supply company can send you samples or each.
You can use the whole seal or piece it. Mold / stretch it to the conform around your stoma, or the area that is giving you a problem, flatten, apply and place the wafer over it.
You may also do well with a belt, which will attach to either side of your wafer by clipping into the tabs. This will pull your wafer in and expose more of the stoma, which will cause it to dipel waste out and not down. This helps with leaks.
PM me if you have questions and good luck!

Thanks again guys! I tried the Eakin seals and they work great! You guys rock. It's nice to be part of a support group and people actually respond to my questions!

I had a similar situation and found relief with the Eakin Seal, inverted wafers and belt (everything mentioned before). Do you have access to an ostomy nurse?

Don't know if this is relevant, but when I had my ostomy - yrs ago, I developed a burning itch under the wafer. When I had it checked out, it turned out to be an allergy to the paste I was using. I switched to a powder and all was well after that. Just a thought...

Hello, I had the burning too...your skin has a delayed reaction to the stoma paste..and also, the seal may not be perfect when you change the bag, and you may have some seeping that you don't see...try to stop drinking Gatorade for awhile, it's acidic..try bottled water....also, ask your doctor if you can take Benedryl when the burn gets really bad..I use that when the burn gets really bad when my j pouch acts up since my reversal....

Kristamarie --

I had this issue too and my life was MISERABLE until my lovely nurse helped me out. Actually, my stoma nurses at the hospital did not know how to help me with this, but my one close to home was my angel... here's what she told me:

First, the separation can be a result of use of steroids and will heal up in time (quicker than you think. When you change your pouch, use a q-tip and make sure you get that area in the separated area clean.

Use stoma paste - do not completely fill the little "valley" or separated area, just enough to cover the top so it's somewhat even with your skin. Use a wet q-tip to smooth it out (dry q-tip will stick to the stoma paste and make it hard to spread). The stoma paste may sting at first, but that will subside after a few seconds.

Then use an eakin seal over the area -- fit the seal right up to the stoma, over the stoma paste and separation.

Then add your wafer/pouch.

It helped me to know the following: cut your pouch to fit with your STOMA, not with your skin that has separated around it.

If you're stoma does not stick out very far from your belly, use a convex wafer as someone suggested, with an ostomy belt (I needed this with my loop ileo, but not with my end ileo I had after my first step).

I hope this helps... best of luck to you. Things will get better after that separation heals up, and it should within a week or two.

Becky

I had terrible skin problems with my ostomy. First I was treated with antifungal powder, but then we determined that the problem wasn't a fungal infection. Then I tried different ostomy bags every week for about a month trying to find one that I wasn't allergic to, but it seemed I was allergic to all of them to at least some extent. What ultimately worked was using a cream (I think a steroid cream called triamcinalone; saw a dermatologist to get it) on the skin twice a day and wearing a non-adherent pouch. I had to take the bag off twice a day and clean the skin until it cleared up. It sucked. I went back to using adherent pouches but still used the cream whenever I changed the bag. I just chose the pouches that were most comfortable for me and used stoma paste to assure no leaks. Mefix tape helped with some pouches. Personally, I didn't like the convex wafers because they always pushed themselves off of my skin.

I had the same problem when I had my stoma. My ET nurse suggested a belt that goes around and hooks onto your bag that will pull it tight so that there is no leaking. I had to also start to change my appliance every other day to prevent the burning. Mine got so bad that it would bleed. I know exactly how painful that can be. Even putting the powder on would burn.
Try the belt. I am sure you can order through Hollister or the other major company (the name has slipped my mind).

I had the same probelm, I had been using the Eakin seals and they really did not work. What my Ostomy Nurse recomended was Stomahesive. it is a wafer that you use around the stoma. It is pretty big and I cut mine into for squares and then cut the whole for the stoma. I find it best to cut the whole for the bag and the stomahesive and then attach the stomahesive to the bag and then attach it to my body. I do not use paste or powders, just the stomahesive, I have been using it regluarly for 4 weeks and have yet to have antoher burning episode, but I also have found that in order to prevent the burn I must change my bag daily (and occasionaly I change it every other day but find that if I do that it is more likely to get uncomfotable)

I hope this helps, but defeintly ask your nurse if you can give those a try. she may have some on hand.

Janet- you change your wafer and everything every day? My skin is in bad shape underneath my stoma. When I change the appliance it feels good for about 24 hrs, then the awful burning feeling begins. I usually put up with it for a while and then change it every 3 days. The ET nurse said I am enzymatic or something and that my output must be extra acidic. I would change it more often if it would help my skin heal. I thought changing so often would irritate the skin more by pulling the wafer off.