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Is this pink skin ring a problem?
I know that skin issues with pouches/adhesives have been covered here, but in searching a bit I’ve found nothing directly applicable to my situation though Herb abd jimswife had some helpful comments in this thread: http://tinyurl.com/3vd67v2
I’m 70 years old. In February of this year, after two TURBs and a couple months of chemo, I had a cystectomy and prostatectomy, along with removal of my seminal vesicles and 35 pelvic and ileal lymph nodes, for a tumor that had invaded the muscle wall of my bladder. An ileal conduit was installed; my stoma is an ‘outie.’
The surgery (7 hours of it) went well, and while it’s taking me longer to regain strength and endurance, I’m getting along pretty well all things considered.
Ever since the surgery–for 6 months now–I’ve been using a Coloplast Assura 14717 pouch with Unisolve as the adhesive remover and Medline Sureprep as the skin prep. I have not used an ostomy powder–it’s not clear to me how to use it. The Coloplast/Unisove/Sureprep combination seems to work well for me–I’m averaging just under 5 days between pouch changes with only three blowouts in the six months, all three apparently due to me pushing the Coloplast pouch wear time up to 6 to 7 days–I was experimenting to see where the limit is, and found out!
I use Dial soap and clean the stoma area very well during pouch changes. I occasionally reinforce the pouch seal with medical tape after a day or two of wear if it appears that an edge of the pouch is losing adhesion to my skin, peeling away a little bit along the edge.
I wear a belt to help the pouch adhesive mechanically.Over the last four or five months I’ve seen a reddish-pink ring around my stoma when changing the pouch. It’s not a rash as such–no swelling or ‘bumps’ or sores or blistering–just a ring of reddish skin where the pouch adhesive ring sticks. There’s no itching or pain and no swelling, just the ring of reddish skin around the stoma. This is an image taken yesterday with my cell phone camera during a pouch change:
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk113/RBHIII/Belly_2.jpg
(You can see that I’ve lost every bit of abdominal muscle tone I ever had! Three months of forced inactivity post-surgery will do that.)
The red ring hasn’t changed visibly over the last four months. I’ve had very little problem with urine leakage (except for the three blowouts in six months), so I don’t think it’s that. I read through the Guide to Adhesives and didn’t see anything that seems directly applicable.
Since I don’t have an ostomy nurse handy–I’m pretty far out in the sticks–I ask this board if this appears to be a problem I should worry about. I really don’t look forward to changing pouch type, etc., since my current combination seems to work well mechanically and liquid seal-wise and I’m pretty practiced at changing the particular Coloplast pouch. So if the visible pinkness isn’t of concern I’d be a happy man.
The one possibility I ran into in the earlier thread I linked above is slow erosion of the adhesive leading to urine contact with the skin. That may be due to my wearing the pouch longer than I should. Even though there’s no overt leakage at 4 or 5 days there may be some under the pouch seal. I dunno, and I’ve got no one around here to talk to about it.
Thanks!
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5 Replies
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It’s very helpful. Thanks! You’re right–the pink area isn’t open or raw, just pink.
I take it that “adhesive wipe” means the Sureprep wipe?
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The trick with using the powder is that use powder, rub off excess powder and then use either an adhesive wipe or spray. The whole purpose of both is to allow for a “dry” stick of the flange. Hope this helps. Your stoma area frankly looks pretty good and the skin doesn’t appear in the photo to be open or raw just pink. If it doesn’t hurt or itch I’m going with it’s just from the pressure of the flange on your skin. Hope this is helpful.
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Many thanks! I’ve been wary of the powder because of the warnings that the pouch adhesive won’t stick to it. I guess the procedure is to rub off well, and then whatever residue remains won’t affect adhesion? Since my pink skin ring essentially covers the whole area the adhesive ring does, that’s nervous-making.
I haven’t run into the protective spray–my local pharmacy barely has the basics–Sureprep and Unisolve–and has to special order pouches when I refill that prescription.
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Hi RBH
I also have an ileal conduit and have the pink ring. I think it is just from the pouch sticking to your skin. Not a problem unless it gets sore and then you use the powder. Wipe with the skin barrier and then add a little powder, skin barrier and then powder, my stoma nurse told me to do that 3 times. Make sure the pwoder is rubbed in before you put the wafer back on as it will not stick where the powder has been. I would also suggest that you use an Ekin Seal on the wafer. They are great for sticking and preventing leaks. Good luck.
Barbra
Dx 4-28-08
pT3a no mo
Rc with Ileal Conduit on 6-09-08
2nd surgery on 6-27-09 for ureter leak
Renal failure on 7-01-09 nephy tube and then stent on 7-09-09
so far so good
I think your analysis is correct. There has been some moisture between your ring and your skin. This is a bit puzzling because it is still not a leak in the way we think of leaks.
I recently left a belted convex bag on over a week and had a minor skin irritation which I am now treating with 4/1 vinegar/ water and stoma powder. Then spraying with “stingless protective barrier spray”.I understand that I will get to used to this and will change my bag when I feel a little tingle or itch. This is a signal that you have moisture between the barrier ring and your skin.
I guess you are some distance from your stoma nurse as Herb is. Is your stoma nurse online? I really rely heavily on my stoma nurse in fact we are going to test a bag assembly that has NO ADHESIVE. It has a custom barrier ring and a belted bag, which is rinsed off and hung up to dry to be reused the next day (in rotation). For minor little problems those of us here can usually be very helpful.
One of the group told me that he changes twice a week and has no leaks.
I’m 70, retired heat/air contractor. After 4 months of keymo ileal conduit (IC) surgery removed bladder & prostate May 2010Sign In to reply.
