Types of Skin Irritation (stoma pics)

  I have endured a few types of skin irritation in the two months with my stoma, but luckily nothing major and I have been able to treat them quickly and effectively. Below I will post pictures of the irritation, explain what caused it and how it was treated.

The picture above and below this text was a reaction my skin had to the adhesive on a  Convatec tape barrier. This was an itchy irritation with a few tiny areas of bleeding broken skin. Thankfully this was easy to treat with the crusting technique, using a thin layer of stoma powder then a sting free barrier wipe (Cavilon film to blot, not wipe, over the powder), then another thin layer of stoma powder and another blotting of the wipe. This creates a crust that dries any weepy areas and also protects and helps to heal the skin. Also, I switched back to Hollister because their wafers have always been good to my skin.

This pic above shows irritation from leaks behind the wafer that was happening pretty consistently in my second week postop. Treating it included trouble shooting the reason for the leaks, and also the crusting technique (explained above). Changing the system every other day also helps to clean and treat the skin more frequently. I enjoy soaking in a bath without the stoma appliance to clean and soak the peristomal skin really well.

These two pictures, above and below, show suture granulomas that I was getting every few weeks in my first six weeks postop. I was unable to treat these myself; I had to go get them treated with silver nitrate from my stoma nurse. This is a quick and easy treatment, it just burns the skin a bit and causes a mild itchy burning sensation for a few days as it heals. I have not had them again since the sutures have dissolved.

These two images, above and below, show a mild skin irritation both close to the stoma where the skin is broken and a little weepy, and also the tiny bumps and redness further from my stoma. The weepy skin close to the stoma was caused because I accidentally cut my wafer a little too big around my stoma and didn't use a protective ring behind it; this caused output to come into contact with the skin right next to the stoma. The bumpy rash was caused by the Coloplast barrier extender strips I used to extend the wear time of a Hollister wafer; I swam with it on and kept it on the rest of the day. The Coloplast barrier extenders absorb moisture, so they swelled up after swimming and held that moisture to my skin causing these itchy bumps. To treat this, I soaked in an epsom salt bath without my stoma appliance. Afterward, making sure the skin is very clean and dry, I put on a Hollister skin barrier before the wafer and bag which will protect my skin and help it heal. This is my first time trying the skin barrier, usually I would use the crusting technique for this type irritation. I learned for future reference not to swim or bathe with the Coloplast barrier extenders.

This is after the first day of healing; it took just a few days to clear up completely

This is a new type of irritation for me, and the worst by far. Lately Bob has been going through these changes where it decides to retract into my tummy and flatten out, stoma peek-a-boo! This happened a lot last night, where Bob kept slinking down and hiding underneath the wafer of my pouch and this caused terrible leaks behind the barrier. I had to change the appliance three times throughout the night! And this was very unexpected as you can see my stoma is always very perky and protrudes, therefore I have all flat wafers. In a panic I ordered some convex wafers to go with the Hollister pouches I already have, and this morning I took an Immodium to slow Bob's movement down. That is helping until I get the convex wafers in a few days, and thank goodness for Amazon Prime! Unfortunately it's Sunday and my medical supply company is closed, so I will be calling them first thing tomorrow morning for convex barriers in my next monthly order. Now, back to the skin issue. The way this was burning I thought it could've been a fungal infection, which is common when moisture consistently gets behind the wafer. Because of this, I used an antifungal powder spray, Miconazole Nitrate 2% (over the counter jock itch treatment), after soaking in an epsom salt bath. 

This is after spraying the antifungal powder on and letting it dry. After the initial burn I actually felt a big relief in the itchy burning feeling. Next, I blotted on the tacky Cavilon no sting barrier film...

After the Cavilon film dries it creates a crust-like coating but with a little tackiness to allow the wafer to stick to it. Very important that the skin is completely dry before applying the wafer. I will remove my appliance tomorrow night and repeat these steps to treat it again, and daily until it fully heals