Causes of sore skin around your stoma
Categories
Common Problems Clinical Advisor
From A Bigger Life
A common problem many ostomates experience is sore skin around the stoma. There is a variety of reasons this can happen:
If you put on weight or lose weight this can make your pouch not fit correctly.
Ensure your pouch matches the size of your stoma, measure the size of your stoma and check the pouch is cut accurately.
It is possible to develop a sensitivity to the product that you are using. If it’s a large area of sore skin you should speak to your Stoma Care Nurse to ensure you are using the appropriate product for your stoma and skin type.
You might need to change the type of pouch you use. It could be that your using a flat pouch and the faeces is leaking in underneath the base plate. You should speak to your Stoma Care Nurse and look at the range of convexity pouches. A convex pouch could help get a tighter seal around the stoma to prevent any leakages.
Your output might be a lot looser than what it could be. You could speak to your GP who could recommend some medication that might be able to slow down your output and help thicken it up.
You can also food to help thicken your output. Marshmallows, jelly beans or a really ripe banana would help to thicken your output and help to slow it down.
You might be interested in:
Related Advice
Do you have a story you want added to A Bigger Life?
Submit your own story and we will get back to you.