Issues with
Skin
Skin issues for ostomates
Skin issues (such as red, sore and/or broken skin) can often be a challenging aspect of being an ostomate but caring for your skin is one of the most important areas of stoma care.
The most common causes of skin issues are a poor fitting stoma pouch accompanied by skin stripping, caused when removing the pouch.
There are a number of reasons why skin issues can occur. Firstly, it’s important to understand why your skin is sore and then the correct solution can be used.
There are a number of reasons why skin issues can occur. Firstly, it’s important to understand why your skin is sore and then the correct solution can be used.
If leaks occur, then the resulting output can sit on the skin and cause skin irritation. Ensuring the pouch fits well to your body and the adhesive does not lift easily is important to help this.
As a poorly fitting template can rub against the stoma and also cause skin issues, it’s important to make time to check the size and shape of your stoma and template regularly to make sure it’s still correct.
If you are still having skin issues, it may be worth trialling some different stoma pouches.
If you’d like to try our naturfit® range, please visit our samples page here where you can order free samples of our one-piece stoma pouches.
When removing the pouch, press the skin under the baseplate and gently remove the pouch by peeling the edges of the baseplate. You can also apply light pressure on your skin with your free hand to help removal.
If there is still some pain when reducing the pouch, an adhesive remover can help.
Our products that can help with skin issues:
liftplus® 360 and liftplus® 360 citrus stoma adhesive remover
Helps to reduce the pain associated with the removal of stoma pouch adhesives
1. Salvadalena G, et al. Wound Ostomy Continence Nurs. 2020;47(4):357-363.