Infection around stoma

Hi ECFCok and welcome to the stoma group.

That sounds horrible for you, and sore. I’ve not had any infections around my stomas(I have 2) but have had on occasion very sore and bleeding skin. 

I’m presuming that your bleeding is not from the stoma itself but the skin around it? I would want to leave the bag off for a while to see if it helps. I’ve done this myself and it’s helped. I’ve got a permanent colostomy, so with thicker output there is less chance of there being an issue. I sit on the bed/lie in bed on top of a puppy pad, and haven’t had a problem doing this. I definitely feel the benefit of having the bag off for a while to help my skin. I keep another puppy pad loosely lying on top of my abdomen, and read a book or scroll through the internet/watch tv. 

Are you able to put a bag on with the skin being so painful? When mine has been bad I’ve used a very thin layer of calamine lotion round the stoma, letting it dry off completely before attempting to put on another bag and after letting the area breathe for a while. I’ve never had a lot of bleeding however.  I find this better than using stoma powder as I found that made everything too “claggy”. 

Usually antibiotics take a few days to work to clear any infection, so I’m not sure how long you’ve been on them? Being 5 weeks from surgery is early days, so hopefully this is just a little blip in your recovery. I also choose not to leave the bag on for very long before changing it-I do it several times a day…leaving things to get to the air each time. Are you sure your stoma hasn’t changed size? It’s important to measure it regularly in the first weeks as things are settling down and healing and it’s really important that the hole is cut to the exact size to stop leakage under the baseplate which can irritate your skin. 

I hope you might also hear from others who might have some different ideas about how to manage this. I found that as time went on, I haven’t suffered from skin problems very often.

Sarah xx

Hi Sarah thank you. My stoma is also permanent and with because the bit cut out was very low down so I have pretty solid out point.Currently the skin is very sore and I dont look forward to changing it more than 3 times a day. The powder can be claggy so I Put it onto a dry wipe spread it and dab it on but even that  stings quite a bit. I'm on day 3 of tablets so hopefully might be getting better soon. I've got puppy pads so I will try that and lie on the bed and listen to the football, (this may not help my mood, ) Peter

I definitely empathise with not wanting to change bags too often when the skin is sore, Peter!

I did find the first few weeks with stomas quite an ordeal with changing on top of sore skin-eyes tightly closed and some few choice words as I took the bags off!

But I’m more than 6 years out from my surgery and my skin is normally fine nowadays. I did change the types of bags I used both for my colostomy and urostomy and the ones I use now suit me much better. Leakage is not an issue now for me, so my skin looks very healthy.

Sometimes it’s trial and error for us, depending on the stoma location and whether it comes out from the body or not, but I think you’ll find things better leaving the bag off for a while with having firmer output-less chance of any mishaps. I found calamine lotion very soothing and it didn’t sting, and also my skin has healed very quickly when I’ve used it. 

I hope you’ll get some relief soon-it’s miserable to have this when you’ve already been through a lot.

Sarah xx