My ostomy adhering method that works great!

[Shamrock4806]

Okay I'm going to share with you my ostomy wafer adhering method that has been producing excellent results.

First thing to remember is that good adhesion to the skin is paramount, and that can't be accomplished without it being very clean, oil or grease free and dry.

So because of that instead of using regular adhesive remover I use oil free eye makeup remover for its ability to remove pectin based adhesive better and it's ability to nourish the deep skin.

So use that to peel and apply to remove the old wafer along the crack between the water and the skin.

Next dry wipe off the stoma area of any residue output. Do not use water or anything else at this point.

Use a flat edge (not the serrated edge) of a unsharpened butter knife or similar to sideways scrape off any residue paste or rings still stuck to the skin. If you have either still sticking to the skin that's a good sign your doing things right.

Next soak some toilet paper with the makeup remover and hold it against the area around the stoma so as soak in and remove any residue paste or ring material. You may have to gently use your fingernail a little bit don't scratch the skin. Try to rub it off if possible. The skin must be absolutely clean.

Next wash and rinse the area three times with Ivory soap, just plain soap, not moisturizer because the eye makeup remover already did that , what your trying to do is clean the greasy feeling off the surface of the skin where the next barrier adhesive will stick good. The skin should be squeaky clean when you rub on it with your clean fingers. Do not apply anything to the skin.

Dry well, usually a blow dryer helps speed things up and actually warms up the skin for better adhesion.

The stoma and especially that crack around its edge needs to be dabbed with dry portions of toilet paper so it absorbs any moisture. Very important.

If you have hair then gently trimming hairs back almost to skin level seems to work the best to avoid ingrown hair irritation.

If one has leak burns they get a very light one grain high dusting of stoma powder and any extra dry brushed away or nothing will stick there. On the healthy skin stoma powder needs to be lightly water damped toilet paper wiped and the area allowed to dry thoroughly, usually about a minute or two.

Do not apply anything else under the wafer area. Unless you have a fungal infection then athlete's antifungal foot powder lightly dusted (in lieu of stoma powder) and coated with skin protectant works to solve this. But if the fungus stops it's intense itching then stop using it.

Then lightly spray coat stoma powder area with a fine mist of skin protectant to lock it down and allow one minute to dry thoroughly. Repeat this powder/skin protectant step it still feels damp. Skin protectant will buy a little time if a leak occurs as well. Barrier adhesive will stick to clean bare dry skin or dry skin protectant but better to just plain skin.

Next if using paste, squeeze a tube right onto the skin next to the stoma and force it into that very dry little crack going around the stoma. This is important to reduce those tiny leaks, especially from more runny type output.

Next on your wafer (with your already cut to fit the stoma hole) about a tiny bit from the hole edge apply two rings of thick paste one around the other that maximizes your wafer area. Too thick of paste is actually detrimental as output will push through it because it remains flexible.

With a ring it has to be stretched to fit tight around the stoma skin side down first and pressed down using the wrapper as to avoid touching it too much. Hold for one minute. A blow dryer can be used to warm it up some.

Next slap the wafer on and press for one minute or more around the stoma to force the adhesive barrier to adhere to the skin and the wafer to the barrier adhesive.

Other tricks is to use barrier strips as tape, applying them center first over the belt hooks and hard plastic part pressed down and sides stretched out before adhering so it provides downward pressure.

One along the bottom also works to prevent the bottom from leaking which it likes to do quite a bit for me.

Rest on your back for a few hours if possible to give some time for things to set up so your not putting strain to areas of the barrier adhesive that quite hasn't adhered as well yet, it takes body heat buildup to accomplish that successfully.

So this is the super simple method I now use to get excellent adhesion of my barrier adhesive that stays on so well that I have to physically scrape it off.

Since I use no sting pectin paste and it stays flexible, most of the time it will separate leaving half on the skin and half on the wafer.

The most important thing again is the proper preparation of the skin. Unfortunately sometimes there is an invisible layer of leftover adhesive or skin protectant from the previous install that now interferes with the new skin bonding, why the eye makeup remover. I will also sometimes very gently use a soft plastic scrubby pad around the stoma on the healthy skin while washing it to remove dead cells and just rough up the surface every so lightly, too much will cause micro tears. The object is the adhesive bonds better to very slightly rough surfaces better than ultra smooth ones like when one tries to use Flonase or another nose product not designed for ostomy use.

And remember, if you feel an constant itch it's usually time to ditch the old bag. So stop eating or drinking and let the output subside for an hour or so before going to work.

The better one puts on the wafer, the more days one will get out of these terribly expensive things and the less pain they will feel.

Unfortunately with fresh surgery and more severe leak burns, a more often replace cycle may be required until the skin has healed up significantly to get more days out of each bag. The thing is if your feeling pain, then don't suffer with it because your going backwards, more damage is being done and it will take longer to heal up.