Need help with acid erosion around stoma

My pain is all from acid erosion of the skin around my stoma. I currently use Coloplast convex base plate and cohesive gasket rings, and still have exposed skin that is red raw and light blood and pain like salt in a wound. Any help? Any skin protection recommended? Thanks, Chris

Chris, some folks use the antacid product Mylanta. The sore skin is cleaned and dried, then the Mylanta is applied, allowed to dry, and then sealed in with a wipe-on or spray-on skin barrier. I believe someone posted about a prescription med that was prescribed for extreme cases, perhaps they will see this and repost that info. Hope this helps.

Hi Chris, although my stoma is an outie, this is what I do when I change the wafer. I had some irritation around the stoma after surgery and a wound care nurse suggested this process to me.

Clean the area with cool water.

Let it dry completely. I have a small fan that I use. If the stoma is percolating, I tuck in a plastic grocery bag into my slacks/underwear to prevent a mess.

On the irritated skin, I use ostomy powder and work it around the skin next to the stoma. It absorbs the moisture. Then, I use a skin barrier wipe over the powder to create a crust. I let it dry completely.

I repeat this process once again.

Then, I place my wafer on the completely dried area.

Next step, I use a q-tip to run it around the wafer on the part between the stoma and the plastic/snap on part. My wafer is small so I can't use my finger.

After I do that process for about a minute or two, I attach the pouch and lie down for 5 minutes to warm the wafer. I was told that it makes the wafer stick better to the skin.

I also change the pouch every day and check around my stoma. I clean out the debris each morning with a q-tip and a wet paper towel gently and sprinkle some ostomy powder around the stoma to absorb any excess moisture. Once in a while, my stoma bleeds...it may be the paper towel or because I rubbed my stoma by accident.

Hope this helps. Everyone here has very good suggestions and if this one is not helpful maybe another post will be.

Good luck. Keep posting. LH

Hi, just thought I would let you know I have had this problem so bad I couldn't stand it. I then had another operation and a wound care nurse was coming all the time for an open wound on my incision, and I told her how bad I hurt. Well, she took everything off and explained to me how to grow new skin to start with. Cool water to clean, then two processes of using karaya powder, then spraying cavilon around the stoma. It took time but it healed. She told me to use Hollister appliances and they work well for me. Good luck, Joyce.

Not sure if you are using precut wafers but they tend to create a better seal around the ostomy.

Hi Chris,

Have you tried Manuka honey? I've heard it helps heal as well. Here is a link where I read about it on here. Hope it helps.

https://www.meetanostomate.org/discussion-forum/viewtopic.php?t=5915 link=random_topics

Hi Chris, at one time or another, everyone gets some irritation around the stoma. "Like salt on an open cut" is the best way to describe the way it feels. I use a two-piece (Convatec) just so I can remove the pouch to check on the condition of the skin if need be. But I can usually tell by the way it feels. Ladyhope gave you some good guidelines. I use Convatec's Stomahesive powder. Not all powders are the same. (Karaya used to be the powder of choice). I also switched to moldable wafers which form a collar up around the stoma, leaving very little skin exposed....

Try dusting the area around the stoma with the powder. You can also add a little water to it and make it into a paste, or use stomahesive paste.

Taking off the pouch, cleaning around the stoma is also a good idea....you can use rolled-up tissue paper or the q-tip. Just be careful not to irritate the skin that you can't see. If you use "paste", add some around the wafer opening... If you do that for a few days, it should heal the skin. BTW....I get irritations that don't heal (I'm diabetic) and using Stomahesive powder on them stops the weeping. It's hard to keep the area around the stoma "clean or dry", but using the powder around it, as often as possible, will help dry it out and heal.

Good luck to you.

Marsha