Raw and Bloody Ostomy - Need Help!

The area around my ostomy is very raw and bloody. The bottom of it is an innie. The BM pancakes under the bag. We have tried everything we know to use. Do y'all have any recommendations or know how I can get help with this problem? Has anyone else had this problem? Thank y'all so much.

Sorry, you are having to deal with this. Raw and bloody does not sound good. Do you have an ostomy nurse you can get help from?

I have left a message to someone who saw me while I was in the hospital. But I don't have a nurse to see. I'm hoping she can see me or help me in some way. Thank you for answering me.

Hello Sophie

Without knowing any information of what you are using, you will firstly need convex appliances and protective seals.

There is no need to suffer, get straight back into the nurse without delay, and see them as necessary, they are there to help you.

Axl

I use barrier spray and powder, barrier sheets, and rings. But I still have leaks which are ruining my skin. After I had home health after a few weeks of getting out of the hospital, I no longer had a nurse. How do you get an ostomy nurse?

In the area I live in, the ostomy nurse is part of our wound care clinic. I call the wound care clinic and schedule with an ostomy nurse. Unfortunately, there are far fewer ostomy nurses than there are ostomates. I hope you can get connected with someone soon.
There's a product called "Domeboro medicated soak" that really helped me with raw, bleeding, and weepy skin. I know it's available on Amazon and in some drug stores. You dissolve a pouch in a cup or so of water and soak gauze pads in it. While your appliance is off, you put the pads on the irritated skin. Make sure they're soaked and leave them on for 30-60 minutes. This will dry up the skin really well. There is no need to rinse the solution off, just let your skin dry when you're done. You should then use stoma powder and protective spray before putting your appliance back in. Any unused solution can be kept for up to a week.

Hi Sophie, it sounds like you may be using too much product. First, make sure your skin is dry. Then, put some powder on, followed by barrier spray or wipe. Do that a couple of times for layers. If you have a dip in the skin like I do at the bottom of your stoma, just fill in that area with some paste or a piece of barrier ring. Good luck.

Do you have a colostomy or ileostomy? I presume a colostomy since you mentioned pancaking.

You may want to call the office of the surgeon who did the surgery - someone should be able

to put you in touch with an ostomy nurse.

I had the same issue, it's coming out a lot on top, but under, it dips. And I hate it because stool comes down not up. So it's so hard keeping that area from getting irritated. I did a lot of research and trial and error. What I use now is convex barriers, I use the moldable rings. I put them on the convex barriers first. Then to clean my wounds. I always use stoma powder, dust it off. And apply protective skin barrier. All products are from Coloplast. It has alcohol and burns. But it helps the most to keep the skin healed up. Then after it dries I put the bag on and make sure to hold it right at the bottom for at least 5 min until it for sure sticks. I hope that helps.

I did a video on how I change it if you'd like to see how my stoma looks and if maybe how I change it will help you out.

https://youtu.be/IUMsbDmE488

Skip to 3:40

A few things that work for me...

1) If my skin is raw and irritated, I use a hydrocolloid dressing like DuoDerm Extra Thin. You can cut it to size and it helps heal and keeps output off of the skin.

2) I use strip paste to fill the dip in my skin on the underside of my stoma.

3) Whenever I change my bag and wafer (I use a 2-piece system from Convatec), I make sure I have time to lay down for 1/2 an hour and I cover my fresh bag with my hand the whole time. The heat from my hand warms up the adhesive and helps it stick really well.

All of these tips came from my ostomy nurse, and I have very rarely had a leak.

I hope this helps and good luck!

Sorry, this has happened. It actually is fairly common, especially with a new ileostomy. I did have some issues when I first got mine (2018). A few things need to happen:

1) Dry the skin out and heal.

2) Fit the pouch opening to your stoma size: my stoma did shrink from when I got it to where it is now. I had to make a few changes in the size on my bags as well as the shape: as my weight changed and as things healed, I developed some dips and unevenness. Getting the opening of your bag to the right size/shape can be difficult, but is so needed.

When the area around or near my ileostomy gets raw and irritated, I will use an antifungal powder. This helps dry things out and heal. I'll use my skin protectant (enough to dampen the powder) and do this a couple of times. Sometimes I'll use a layer of stomahesive powder on top. I use a slightly larger bag opening (stoma 7/8", bag is 1"). BUT always use an additional barrier ring with it, that I can mold around the stoma for best size and fit. This helps fill in that 1/8" area and other dips and crevices I have by my stoma. I put the ring on the bag first, not my skin as this helps me maneuver the bag directly onto myself. I try to keep the bag on at least 3 or 4 days to allow the skin to heal but still be able to assess the skin. Leaving the bag on longer sometimes irritates my skin.

The process of barrier wipe/spray and dry powder (antifungal/stomahesive) alternating with barrier under and over powder is called "crusting" by some and can be practiced not only on your skin. I used an old piece of cloth.

Products I currently use: antifungal powder (get an Rx if you need one (don't use ointment, gels, or other liquids - your bag won't stick), basic stomahesive powder, skin barrier wipes, a moldable stomahesive/ceramide ring (Eakin's Ring), and for me, a 1" 1 piece convex Convatec Esteem pouch. I do get everything I'll need ahead of time as sometimes I leak while I'm trying to put on the bag and having things at hand helps a lot. Keep plenty of toilet paper/tissue available to mop up. I also keep a clean, dampened washcloth to help clean up "messes".

Most hospitals do have an ostomy nurse and many home health organizations do as well. Also, the supply companies have ostomy nurses who will work with you. This should be seen. If no one is available, call your surgeon, his office may have a nurse who can help.

Good luck and take care. Let us know how things work out.

Hi, when my skin around my stoma was really sore, I was given a lotion called Eosin. It's a very red liquid which stains your skin, but it is fantastic and heals the area very quickly. I'm in the UK. Also, for pancaking, you can buy a solution to put in the pouch which prevents it.

I have a very difficult colostomy, an innie that cannot even be seen from the outside. I have the same problem you do, having stool collect at the site and on skin instead of bowel tissue. That pooling stool causes abrasion and bleeding that is also very painful. I also have the trouble that appliances don't tend to stick to my skin for more than 6-12 hours. Here's what I have discovered through trial and error and also my Ostomy nurse.

I use a convex barrier ring and then fill in the back side of that with stick paste because the barrier ring and bag glue will not stick for more than 12 hours but with the sticky paste around the outside curve of the convex ring, I get good stick for about 48 hours or so. The biggest help with both healing and getting my skin to allow for sticking is something called Cavilon made by 3M. Its reference number for your pharmacist is: 5051 (NOT 5050, that's the big one! Not sure if you're in Canada or if that makes a difference in the reference number, it shouldn't).

Cavilon is a liquid product that comes in two sizes, you would need the smaller one (Cavilon advanced skin protectant, 0.7ml sponge tipped applicator). You break the ampule within the handle of the plastic applicator, the small amount of liquid then suffuses the sponge attached. You then swipe it delicately onto the abraded and bleeding skin, putting one coat on. Don't push hard, just a thin coat. Keep the skin taut and don't touch anything to the moist skin for 60ish seconds. (It sticks to itself and everything else if you do). All of this is done on clean, dry skin with NO OTHER PRODUCT on your skin at all. After the 60ish seconds, you then apply your convex ring with bag (I build it all together then apply all at once with heat from a small heating pad. The heating pad is awesome - cordless too. Here's a link to Sunbeam Goheat heating pad https://amzn.to/3skMVVR).

Cavilon is expensive, especially here in Canada, but I did get special coverage after applying. I hope this helps, there was nothing that truly helped much at all except silver powder but then the Cavilon barrier became necessary as my Ostomy is just that bad.

If you cannot get Cavilon or it's too expensive, the only thing that helped before was AG+ Silver Powder advanced wound care by Medline Reference # MSC9405, 5g bottle. You use it like you would stoma powder. Clean dry the area, put silver powder on, brush off excess, spray with no sting skin prep spray (I use Smith Nephew), let dry, then repeat the process but you use a coat of your regular stoma powder instead, brush off excess and respray with no sting skin prep. This is called "crusting", doing two layers. No need to use two layers of the silver powder, it's too precious for that, the first layer of silver powder and spray is the barrier that helps healing, the second layer is just more protective, not healing like the silver powder layer. Hope this all helps.

I did get a nurse to come out, but she really didn't help. Another one is supposed to come out in a day or two that went to a class. Hopefully, she will be better able to come up with something that helps. It hurts a lot tonight.

I am a member of an Ostomy Support Group here in Lawrence, KS. It is the Ostomy Association of LMH Health. We support people with ostomy and continent diversions, their families, and caregivers. We are now on Zoom and meet once a month. Not only can we help you, but we can learn from you. Please contact our Ostomy Care Coordinator at 1-785-505-6265 for further information. Thank you and looking forward to meeting all of you out there. Oh, and please share this with your contacts! Thanks again.

Thank you for the link to the portable heating pad! I didn't know such a device was available. If anyone is in the USA, eBay has these for literally half the Amazon price!
Just ordered mine!