Image via AS Phillips
OstomyLife and skin irritation
It’s one of those distressing aspects of ostomy life. Some ostomates never have an issue with it, but lots of us have to deal with it at least occasionally, or far more often than any of us would like.
I’ve been an ostomate for about a year and a half. A long time ago I developed a sensitivity to medical adhesives. Since our stoma pouching systems are kept in place with adhesive, I began experiencing acute skin reaction with breakdown and bleeding in multiple areas attached to my pouching system.
It was distressing and painful and I dreaded every pouch change.
Thankfully, there are some wonderful folks in a global ostomate group I belong to on Facebook, and they helped navigate me in seeking out alternatives that I wasn’t as reactive to, and alternative medicines that helped heal up the occasional flare-ups.
My best medicine for skin breakdown
Even tho I use a skin-barrier spray, I still have an occasional tear when removing my phlange or protective barrier sheet, from around my stoma. I also get inflamed, weepy skin around my stoma if there’s been any output coming into contact with the adjacent skin.
I wear a two-piece drainable pouching system, specifically the Mio Sensura Convex by Coloplast. Since I don’t have to remove the pouch to drain and rinse it nearly as often as a one-piece system, sometimes I’m not aware that my skin’s developing breakdown until I remove the whole thing or begin to have pain near my stoma site.
I’ve used paste and wax rings in an attempt to prevent output from getting under the phlange and touching my skin, but so far, it still happens often enough for me to keep a remedy on hand to help me heal up quickly and provide additional protection between pouch changes.
Calamine lotion has been that solution for over a year! Below are some points I love about it.
- Doesn’t sting when applied to irritated/broken skin
- Easily applied
- Easily portable
- Highly recommended by other veteran ostomates, with similar skin challenges
- Inexpensive
- No Rx needed
- Works great!
Proceed with caution!
If you’ve never used Calamine lotion, I urge you to use it in a small, test area before applying it to any irritated skin because some folks have an allergy to one or more of it’s ingredients.
Basic calamine lotion contains...
- Iron oxide
- Powdered calamine mineral
- Purified water
- Zinc oxide
If you’re not allergic to it and want to try it for yourself, it can be applied with only your fingertips. However, my own preference is to apply it with cotton swabs.
It’s pink and chalky as it dries. The cotton swabs help keep potential mess to a minimum.
Isaiah said, “Take a cake of figs.”They took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.2Kings 20:7World Messianic Bible Translation
The wrap!
My hope is that even tho you’ve read this, you don’t have an ostomy to deal with. But, if you do, I hope you’ve found it helpful for yourself, or maybe someone you know who is either challenged with skin breakdown, or even caring for someone who has an ostomy and suffering with ostomy-induced skin issues.
‘Til next time,
Shalom!
