Struggling with Bag Adhesion in Hot Weather! Need Advice!

For those of you who also live in England, you'll know what I'm talking about here!!! The last couple of weeks it has been very warm where I live and I've been having a bit of trouble getting my bag to stick well! Since I've had the bag, the weather hasn't been this hot and so I don't really know how to cope with it! When I woke up yesterday morning my bag was starting to come off, luckily I had woken up before it had leaked out so I got up and put a new bag on. But then I had a nap in the afternoon.....and didn't wake up in time and it had leaked! I'm finding that around the edge the bag is starting to peel off because I'm sweating, it's just getting difficult to make it stay on properly!! Anybody have any advice on anything I can do??

Hi Sophie,

I live in Massachusetts, U.S.A. The area I live in, the weather has been extremely hot and humid. You say your bag sticks? Do you mean the wafer itself that attaches to the skin? I use the standard stuff, STOMA adhesive powder and the wipes. There is a tape I use called Nexcare. I frame the wafer around the edges with it. I am going to give their website - www.nexcare.com. I swim, jump rope, and work out at the gym. I have had no problems in the four years I have used this tape. The one I use is a flesh-tone color. Good luck!

Hockey

I don't know if you got my last message about the Nexcare tape. Here is their website again: www.nexcare.com. This tape is great. I use it to frame my wafer. I use the flesh tone color hockey.

UK too. Do you use Cavilon Spray? It is meant to act as a barrier and help adhesion. I've had no problems now we at long last have a proper summer.

Yes, I have it. It caused me to have skin irritation. Thanks for the reply. Have a nice day. The weather is very humid here.

Hockey, yeah I meant the wafer bit onto the skin, I have some sticky frames to stick around the edge but the ones I have stick to my skin very well so I don't like to use them unless I really have to! Tigger, I have Cavilon wipes, maybe I'll try giving the area a good wipe over before sticking it on!

Hi Sophie96. I'm in the UK too and the heat has been unbearable. Particularly having a potential hot water bottle stuck to your belly. Pretty much since I've had my ileostomy, I've used 3M Microporous tape. It's like the stuff that holds on bandages in hospital but lets your skin breathe. It really helps to stop the edges of the wafer bit lifting. I think Lloyds Pharmacy seems to be the only one that sells the 3M tape, other brands seem to irritate the skin.

Hi DidderleyD, here is the website for Nexcare tape www.nexcare.com. I have found that the Nexcare tape that is an opaque color (flesh color) works best for me. I do a lot of swimming in salt water. I will be honest with you, this humidity in the States is the worst that I can remember. Keep in touch. Hockey.

Hi!!! Mara727, is that the website costamedical.org? It's thank you for the information. Much appreciated. Hockey.

Sophie, I am in AZ where it gets to be over 110 for over a month and I HATE it but Coloplast (www.us.coloplast.com) makes a great really nice strip that is hydrocolloid material and each piece is a 1/2 moon so 2 pieces wrap around the edges of your wafer to greatly extend the wear time! They are called Brava Elastic Barrier Strips part # 120700. Best of luck... HammertimeAZ

Hi, in reply to the message you sent to Sophie, I will go to that site. I have been using Nexcare tape with great success. Thanks, Hockey.

Hi!! Sophie, I just received some information from another site. A woman who lives in Florida -- U.S.A. uses a product called (Relia Med). No website address??? I will check with the surgical shop I buy my stuff from and will get back to you. Hockey.

I have been using the Nexcare tape for two years. It works fairly well in cooler climates. In hot summer months, the Nexcare tape holds, but the colostomy bag and skin plate still come loose under the tape. My climate is hot and humid in summer and if I work out in the garden, I mostly have to change my two-piece unit.

Oh yeah, the tape is not cheap or covered by insurance.

I'm from Florida, which is both horrendously hot and horribly humid. All I use is a little stomahesive powder. I do make sure that I'm very dry when I put the new bag on, and I cover the area to get it warmer for about 10 minutes. Once I do that, I'm good for about 5 days without any problems. I've even gone swimming at the beach on the 4th day and still don't change out until the 5th without any leaks.

Hi!!!! I have never had problems until this summer. I use the stoma adhesive plus Allkare adhesive wipes. I am always in the ocean. I also jump rope and work out. Maybe I got a bad batch of wafers. LOL hockey

Hi!!! Bilme, I also use the Nexcare tape which keeps the wafer secure. I think it is the wax adhesive seal that is failing. It is really starting to piss me off. Maybe I have received a bad batch of wafers. Hockey.

Sophie, Inaznlookin mentioned something from Coloplast. I checked it out and those band-aid-like things look great to secure the wafer. I want to try them. Please, check it out, Bill.

Bill, is there a website address? Thanks for the information. Hockey.

www.coloplast.com

What is stoma adhesive? I just stick mine on with the stickiness on the flange. I think I'll order some of the Coloplast half circle things to go round the edge. I've had a few of those from the hospital before and they were quite good, but I don't have the details to order them from my company where I normally get my bits from x

Hi!!!! Sophie, it is called stoma adhesive protective powder. It comes in a (1oz) container---Convatec Canada Ltd.-1--800--465--6302 --or www.convatec.com. Also, I use Allkare adhesive wipes, also made by Convatec. Hockey.

Hi John72ag, I only use ConvaTec products. I will check your info out. www.coloplast.com is a website for ConvaTec. www.convatec.com

I have read your various comments regarding how to avoid the wafer from leaking. You all are lucky as most of you are able to get various materials that help to adhere the wafer to the skin. Despite this, you manage to hold the wafer at the most for 5 days. I live in Goa where the weather is hot and humid for most part of the year. Despite that, I change my flange Hollister once every 7-8 days. This is possible because I apply a thin layer of Compound of Benzoin Tincture (CBT) on a clean and dry skin, then I place the wafer and gently press it all around. CBT is both antiseptic and adhesive in nature, besides it is inexpensive.

I have read your various comments regarding how to avoid the wafer from leaking. You all are lucky as most of you are able to get various materials that help to adhere the wafer to the skin. Despite this, you manage to hold the wafer at the most for 5 days. I live in Goa where the weather is hot and humid for most part of the year. Despite that, I change my flange Hollister once every 7-8 days. This is possible because I apply a thin layer of Compound of Benzoin Tincture (CBT) on a clean and dry skin, then I place the wafer and gently press it all around. CBT is both antiseptic and adhesive in nature, besides it is inexpensive.

Hi!!! Thanks a lot. The information on this website is great and helpful. Keep me in your loop, hockey (Joe).

Be positive, great post. Where do you buy this CBT? Health food store? Pharmacy? Where is Goa? I thought I was pretty good at geography, but I'm coming up blank. Thanks for the info. Sounds very promising.

Compound Tincture of Benzoin - What It Is and What It Does
by John Falkner-Heylings BSc(PodMed), FPSPract

Compound Tincture of Benzoin (Tinc Benz Co.) is derived from the resin that is exuded from the bark of trees of the species Styrax benzoin when the bark is deliberately damaged. It is a pathological product, since the trees produce the substance only when the cambium, or living bark, is injured. The cultivated trees are first incised when seven years old and yield about 3 lbs of resin per annum for ten or twelve years. A V-shaped cut is made with an axe deep into the cambium of the bark and the resin flows out, hardening into reddish tears set in a grey matrix. The hardened balsamic resin is harvested, crushed and ground, and dissolved in alcohol to produce Tincture of Benzoin (a tincture is a solution in alcohol).

The trees are cultivated in Sumatra, Java, and tropical S.E. Asia, the resins differing in composition according to where grown. Sumatran resin contains 18% or more of benzoic acid and about 20% of cinnamic acid. It also contains 1% of vanillin, styrol, styracin, phenol-prophyl cinnamate, and benzaldehyde. These constituents account for its distinctive aroma. Trees grown in Thailand yield a resin that has the composition of up to 38% of benzoic acid, partly combined with benzoresinol and siaresinotannol, vanillin, and an oily aromatic fluid. Benzoin is pleasantly aromatic and is used in the perfumery industry as an essential fragrance.

The compound tincture (T Benz Co.) consists of 10% benzoin and 90% alcohol with aloes, storax, and Tolu balsam. Both benzoin and alcohol are antiseptic. It is sometimes mixed with lards and fats to prevent them from turning rancid. T Benz Co. is used to defend and protect vulnerable skin. It is used as a small wound dressing and is said to promote the growth of granulation tissue.

It is technically a "medical varnish," forming a "sealing film" over raw tissue to protect wounds from ingress of bacteria. Because of this sealing property, it should not be used, for instance, where an infected heloma durum has just been enucleated, in case residual bacteria are sealed in. It is much used in sport to protect damaged skin areas, and the U.S. Army drains servicemen's blisters, replacing the exudate with the same volume of Tinc Benz Co.

The compound is fluid impermeable and physically prevents drying out of the skin after paring, retaining suppleness and flexibility. It protects the skin against maceration and chemical breakdown, which indicates its use as a "chemical mask" to protect healthy skin around verrucae when caustic occlusive dressings are applied in potential cautery. When applied to a skin surface before the application of tapes and dressings, the bond strength of the adhesive is increased several-fold. This is useful in sports taping or when we wish to apply a dressing and want it to be retained for a lengthy period to protect feet that cannot be reached. T Benz Co. suppresses skin reactions beneath dressings. And T Benz Co. will retain a cotton wool pack in the nail sulcus, creating a non-hardening mass with the consistency of chamois leather.

When applied to a break or abrasion in the skin, there may be a little smarting (due to the alcohol solvent), but this is mild and quickly passes. Applied to itching and inflamed areas of skin, it reduces inflammation and calms and cools. It is applied to cracked nipples and anal splits and is used in dentistry to treat gum infections. Applied as an antiseptic to deep heel fissures, it also keeps them supple, promoting rapid healing. Applied to broken blisters, it protects from infection and promotes healing. Chilblains, too, benefit from its application.

Benzoin is a main constituent of Friar's Balsam, which is added to boiling water and used in steam as an inhalant for respiratory conditions, where it gives much relief. Friar's Balsam is readily purchased at almost any chemist and has all of the beneficial properties of T Benz Co., although being rather slower in drying. It makes an excellent alternative or substitute for T Benz Co., and both preparations are effectively interchangeable.

Sorry that was so long, but the tincture being mentioned is very interesting. I copied that info from the following site: [PDF] Compound Tincture of Benzoin - what it is and what it does www.thealliancepsp.com/.../COMPOUND%20TINCTURE%20OF%20BEN... Compound Tincture of Benzoin (Tinc Benz Co.) is derived from the resin that is exuded from the bark of trees of the species Styrax benzoin when the bark is ...

It would be great if some other ostomates would check out this compound and report back about their experiences. Thanks to all.