Sore skin

Hi grandma,
So sorry that your stoma is suffering...I never use bandaids because I find that they do not absorb enough and the plastic encourages bacterial growth which causes redness and itchiness.
I use the mini-packets of kleenex then I fold them in half...they make for the perfect size and shape, are really quite absorbant and I just chuck them in the garbage can afterwards...they are also biodegradable...bandaids are not.
If I am really very leaky then I add half of a minipad stuck to the inside of the unddies in the right spot. I only tape down the kleenex at night and then with a very thin piece of transpore tape (a few millimeters wide). That is the least irritating covering that I have found...I change them when wet or gooey but if I am not leaky then I can wear the same one most of the day.
The packets are easy to carry around, easy to buy and don't take up a lot of space.
Try them for a few days and let me know.
Hope that this helps
Sharon

Hi Sharon, do you think I could be allergic to cotton balls? Because I put them directly over the stoma at night to help absorb the moisture! But during the day, I just put a washcloth over her! The skin around her is dry, itchy, red and sore!

Grandma,
Sounds like either yeast or a sort of dermatitis...Either way, I would avoid the cotton balls (I can't use them, the fibers get stuck and irritate me and they are often 'whitened' with bleach...even the cotton pads)
I found the easiest and cheapest thing is still those kleenex...cotton, gauze, bandaides etc just don't do it for me.
I have a lot of fluid discharge from my stoma (it is a little twisted and off kilter so it collects stuff that spurts out at unfortunate moments) so I need something very absorbant that allows it to breath...any waterproof patches or bandaids encourage bacterial growth and cause 'diaper rash' of sorts...
Years back my surgeon gave me a hydrocortisone 1% to use if and when it got red and itchy...I have also found that an antifungal works well too. Both are easy to find at dollar stores in the pharmaceutical department or at Walmart.
If you can, bathe the stoma with mild soapy water and rince well then pat dry and cover with an absorbant cover...use the anti fungal or hydrocort 2-3xs/day.
If you can allow it to air dry a couple of hours a day...when my mom worked in the maternity ward they would put lamps on the episiotomies of the new mothers to 'dry them out' and prevent irritation.
If it works for those tender parts it must work for us.
Sharon

I've been using Lansinoh nursing pads. They wick the moisture away.The only time I have a problem is when stool is leaking while I am sleeping, so obviously I'm unaware until I awaken. I'm not talking a major leak.
If my skin is red from stool being on it, I use Calmoseptine.
Anyway, the nursing pads have been very successful.

I'm a fan of zinc oxide, just plain out cheap zinc oxide. It's in a lot of products to protect your skin. It's white and thick, just put it on to dry skin every time you change your dressing. My dressings are all washable and reuseable.

Right now with my valve being dilated and going through Interventional Radiology to get the catheter in because of a stricture right before the valve. It is weeping from irritation, so I change the dressing a lot more. I use washable nursing pads, cut up T-shirts into the size I want....all washable to save money, and no tape. My underwear hold the dressing in place. It's very important to try to keep your skin around the stoma as healthy as possible. Then I use something that moisture won't pass through over the dressing so my clothes don't get wet. You can buy inserts for pet bands that work as the cover. They have an absorbent side and the back side is water proof. So it works. Or use anything you can think of, to cover the dressing to hold in the moisture, if needed. Sometimes, we have to use our imagination.

Sharon & Jasmine, thank you so much for your replies. I did stop using cotton balls and used zinc oxide (Desitin) that you use on babies bottoms and my skin healed right up! Thank you so much for the suggestions! Wanetta