Keep Skin Barrier on

I have been having trouble keeping my skin barrier on. It seems to leak alot. The other day I had to change it 5 times. I hope since I called Hollister and they pointed me in a different direction. I was using a flat skin barrier and they said since I have a Flat stoma I should be using the convec skin barrier. Any one else been through this?

Hi bigboy, a large percentage have leaking issues mainly during the early days. See your stoma nurse regularly and try different product from the manufacturers, if the nurse can't supply samples to try, the manufacturers will often send samples for free. Keep at it and you will get a handle on it before long, everyone does.

Hi, big boy, do make sure that your skin is completely  dry. The convex bags were a game changer for me many years ago. I don't  know what soap if any you are using but if you are using a moisturizing  soap; you will have a greater chance of your barrier coming off.  Hope you get this taken care of soon  changing so many times is hard on your skin.

Bigboy, have you tried those convex bags yet? They are a game changer with flatter stomas. For a period of time when I was leaking a lot, I even tried a Hollister convex ring, then put my convex bag over that. It worked. Later, I tried my regular barrier rings with my convex bags and I was fine so I went back to them.

 https://www.google.com/search?q=hollister+convex+barrier+rings&rlz=1CAVARX_enUS930US930&oq=Hollister+convex+barrier+rings&aqs=chrome.0.0i512j0i22i30l2j0i390i512i650l4.8582j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

 

Hi BigBoy! Be sure you have your stoma measurement right. You don't want your wafer sitting on top of your stoma even a little bit because stool will get underneath. If your stoma is between the standard pre-cut sizes choose the size up and use a ring to fill in the small space. Again make sure the ring is not on top of your stoma. If you have a steady hand you might like a cut to fit. All of the previous mentioned suggestions still apply.

If your peristomal skin is irritated and itchy and burning you might have a fungus infection. Try some 2% miconozole powder. It won't hurt anything to try it.

For weepy skin domeboro soaks help dry it up so your wafer will stick but it won't heal anything.

Make sure you wash your hands with antibacterial soap before handling any of your supplies.

There are so many things that can cause your problems. I had quite a journey myself. I found out I was allergic to the adhesive remover I was using and some adhesives. Yeah! Because our main objective is good adhesion I had quite a journey finding wafers, extenders, etc that I wasn't allergic to. Even stoma powder which is an adhesive. I still have problems. I don't try to keep my wafer on once it starts leaking underneath, I change it. Doesn't matter if it's the same day because stool is extremely irritating. 

Bottom line is it's not just the fit of the wafer if there are underlying issues.

I'm sorry that you're going through this. You probably don't want to make a lot of changes all at once because you won't know which thing you changed is working for you.

God bless and good luck! E& I 

Yeah I have used the convex ones and I was still having problems. I usually use just a wet towel with no soap on it. Should I be using soap to wipe down before I put a new barrier on