Appliance Issue

Well, I am new to this site and new to being an ostomate. I had my surgery in January 2009. I have an ileostomy due to Crohn's. Now, 6 months after my surgery, I am still playing a guessing game to find the right product - wafer and bag. I have really sensitive skin and am allergic to most adhesives. Does anyone here have some ideas? I'd love to hear them. Thanks!!

~ Cassie

I too developed a mad rash with the first one-piece bags I was sent home with. I subsequently tried six different products and ended up settling on the Dansac "Nova" two-piece system. Because my stoma was only temporary in-between J-Pouch surgeries, it was really too close to my belly button so I'd always have issues with the base plate peeling back from there. The Dansac plates were seriously the only ones that proved satisfactory - of all the major, well-known brands I tried.

I used a 6mm convex base plate that, in the eight weeks I used them, would last 96 hours without a problem. I'd leave the bag itself on for 48 hours without ever having one fail.

I didn't use any "barrier" film or wipes since I think they were mostly responsible for the rash - the Cavillon ones were like acid! By only changing the base every few days it meant that the skin had time to recover between de-gluing with the alcohol wipes.....

Have you tried using Eakin Cohesive Seals? When I started using them under my wafer, I am now able to go a week before I have to change out my wafer.

Great question, everybody who goes through this must seek and find which combo works best for them. My suggestion would be to contact Coloplast, Convatec, Hollister, and any others you can think of. Most, if not all, will have a customer representative whom you can talk to for suggestions.
They will send you a few samples free of charge of anything they think will work for you.
Try them all and see which one(s) work the best. If you have trouble finding the contact information (try Google), PM me as I think I have some of them. Good luck.

Cassie,

I went through the same thing. When my ileostomy was temporary, I had no issues. When it became permanent, my skin revolted and I had horrendous skin problems under the wafer. It ended up that I developed an allergy to the wafer adhesive. This baffled me as I had been using the same Convatec appliances that I was used to. Long story short, the solution to my problem came from Coloplast. It is a 4"x4" skin barrier that goes between my skin and the Convatec wafer. The Coloplast number is 3210. This has been a life saver for me. It's funny as sometimes I don't get the wafer completely lined up with the barrier and a tiny bit will be on my skin and within a few hours it is irritating it. I had problems coloring within the lines when I was a kid too.