UOAA Discussion Board

Was having some issues with trying out new flanges and pouches from a different manufacturer earlier this year, which was causing excess leaking, blowouts and very short use time. I switched back to what I was using before (stopped due to finding the pouch ends harder to keep clean than the new product) and I am back to a full week's wear. During the process, though, I had an NSWOC suggest I use stoma powder (I had a raw area at the bottom of the stoma) and to use a barrier ring. I tried that with the old product and it worked well, but when I changed yesterday I noticed one small raw spot and beside it a blood blister. The blister is hard, but bleeds when I touch it. Is this something to worry about or a usual thing? I found it after a blowout due to trying to last one extra day beyond 7 days and then lifting heavy bags of bird seed.

I decided to avoid both powder and seal this time and see what happens. I had not used either for over a year as I had found the seals actually seemed to hasten blowouts right where the seal was, and the powder I had not used since about 2010 when I was told "less is more" when it comes to using products. But I don't think I have seen a blister before.

Typically when I find something like this under my flange, I do a wait and see approach...of course the last time I did that, I had cancer....
I would plan on doing a flange change every couple of days just to get eyes on it. For me, I will get hair follicles that will get infected, and since they can't go "out", they go in and cause a "crater" type wound. When I find these, I take a good long shower, and use hibiclens to wash the area around the stoma. Then, I go lay on the bed under a fan and allow it to air our and "scab" over. If it doesn't look dry enough to cover with the flange, then I'll use the powder/barrier spray combo to cover it...if it's deeper, I'll typically just cover it with duoderm before applying the flange. Keep an eye on it, and trust your gut if you think you should have it looked at by your doctor/ostomy nurse. Hope that helps.

David