Bringing an End to Sore, Itchy And Red Peristomal Skin
In this article, I’ll be exploring what it is that causes soreness, itchiness and redness in the skin around your stoma and what can be done to avoid it in the first place. For those who already have such issues, this will also guide you on how to rectify it and ensure your skin doesn’t undergo any further damage in the future. The Science of Skin Firstly, you must understand your skin and the environment that skin is most comfortable in. In order to do so, we must start with the epidermis. This is the top layer of your skin that will come into contact with your ostomy care appliances and must protect lower layers from any infections caused by environmental pathogens.
This same layer controls the amount of water that is released from the body as sweat and helps control your entire bodies temperature. Therefore, it is of huge importance. This layer of skin is only 0.005mm thick around your stoma, making it easy to damage. The epidermis does, however, do a fantastic job of protecting lower layer of the skin by building a mechanical barrier of cells and chemical barrier of lipids, acids, enzymes and peptides to fight of anything that could cause infection. The Soreness, Itchiness and Redness Whilst all of those layers work to stop infections, constant moisture on the skin and removal of ostomy supplies can make it increasingly difficult for the epidermis to play its role.
This is due to the fact that constant moisture reduces the acidity of the skin and therefore reduces the skins ability to fight any environmental pathogens. Additionally, when removing ostomy care supplies, such as seals and flange extenders, you will remove some skin cells. In doing so, the skin continues to become weakened and therefore is vulnerable to infections. It is these infections that cause soreness, itchiness and redness. They can of course be cured with the use of some antibiotics or creams.
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Although, should you continue to allow moisture to build up below your ostomy care supplies and remove them regularly the infection will likely return. The Solution It is likely the ostomy care supplies that you’re using are that cause the moisture build up and removal of skin cells. Therefore, it’s recommended that you reconsider which supplies you are using moving forward. Ultimately, you will want to use seals, flange extenders etc.
that do not cause the skin to sweat. This therefore reduces moisture building up between your skin and ostomy care appliance. Additionally, you should consider using a medical adhesive, such as those manufactured by Trio Ostomy Care http://trioostomycare.com/. These will weaken the adhesive of your ostomy care appliances prior to removal and therefore put less strain on your peristomal skin.