UOAA Discussion Board

As an ostomate with a redhead’s complexion, I lump skin being itchy and such in summer.

Though if anyone can recommend a good ointment or such that, of course, does not interfere with adhesives, I’d be interested- and probably not the only one!

I have this problem. All my life I’ve been subject to hives and just plain itchy skin. This histamine excess, or whatever it is, is made worse by the fact that I am gluten intolerant and pop hives if I exceed my gluten threshold.

Summer is worse, as you say. During the summer I change wafers every other day, often times. When I’m having itch problems under the wafer - probably every second or third wafer change - I use betamethasone, a prescription that is stronger than OTC hydrocortisone ointments. OTC hydrocortisone would also work for me, just not as well I think.

Does it affect adhesion? Yes and no. It *should* affect adhesion. But if I use it relatively sparingly and rub it in well and wipe the skin lightly my appliance sticks. And I use a wafer that has white tape, so there are two substances - wafer and tape - that need to stick. And they do. Sometimes if I overdo it I have an adhesion problem. But I swear that other times when I do it just right it actually improves the adhesion of the wafer (not so much the tape).

It’s a strange thing. I avoided even giving this a try for years because we all know that a cream or ointment is going to cause adhesion problems. Then I had such awful itching that I started applying betamethasone, lying down for a half hour and hoping that there was no output, then wiping it off really, really well and applying the appliance. Over time I guess that I figured out that I don’t need the half hour treatment if I do the above technique.

Life is definitely better when you aren’t being driven batty by an itch that you can’t scratch.

Just a note on Betamethasone: It comes both in an ointment and what the call 'lotion', but it is actually a liquid. I can use that under either the wafer and the tape. I dab it on and it usually air dries fast, although I tend to give it an extra chance to dry with a hair dryer on the cool/air setting. Since I use a warm air hair dryer to heat the wafer a little anyway, it's easy to dry the skin first.

For years I have used hydrogen peroxide to eliminate itching. I use a small squeeze bottle to apply it to my exposed skin. It eliminate the itching and does not undermine my appliance. It might give you some relief...even though I'm not a red head.

Lately I've been rubbing in some Aquaphor on days where I take the pouch off, shower, then put on new pouch. Skin is looking good, but I make sure I've wiped off all the Aquaphor