itching and burning!

Ive only had my ostomy since Nov. 19 so i dont know too much about it yet. When i clean it and change my wafer like every 4 days i can see the stiches. Theyre a pale yellow color and i can see them when i pick the sides of my stoma up to clean around it. I use non scented baby wipes to clean around it and sometimes after i put my wafer on it starts itching like CRAZY! Not like directly after i put it on. Like for example ive had this one on for 3 days and its ITCHING! And i cant scratch it. well i kinda can.. I scratch around it like where the wafer is. But then it just itches more and so ive tried just ignoring it but thats sooo hard to do! Any advice? Is it because the poo is going down and under the wafer?

Thanks =)

So I couldnt taking the itching and burning any longer. And i changed my wafer. Guess what I found.POO! Under my wafer like I told my mom. She got mad because I changed it in 3 days. I dont see what the big deal is..it says i can change it every 3 -4 days. How can I get her to understand that its OK to change it in 3 days? Im sick of her yelling at me and not understanding anything. Its so hard. Esp. being 17. So if anyone has any advice, id be veryy happy!

I absolutely agree with Shaz. Itching is the tell tale sign that you need to pay attention to your wafer and that means changing it! As you have found out. Leaving poo directly in contact with the skin can cause a terrible irritation, and that all begins with the itching you are experiencing. Sometimes rinsing your pouch out with cool water helps, but only for a very short time, at least until you can get your stuff ready to change it. Like I said, the water trick only buys you a little bit of time but it doesn't correct the problem.

If you are itching --- change it. Be sure to check the diameter of the hole in the wafer to be sure that the ostomy size hasn't changed any. Sometimes they shrink after surgery. Yours probably has shrunk some. Making sure you have a good fit around the stoma will also help the length of your "wear time"

Please stay in touch and let us know how things are going for you. There are a lot of us all here on this forum with lots of experience that help give you some suggestions along the way. We are IN your shoes!!!!

For being someone who really believes in the Eakin Seals, I really blew it when I didn't mention it in my previous post!!!  Thanks OHIO43 for catching that one.  Absolutely check into the Eakin Seals.  They are good at increasing your wear time by not letting the poo break down the area so quickly.   Worth a try.

I use Neutrogena non scented soap on the skin around the stoma when I am changing my appliance and haven't had any problems with it in all of these years.  Just wash, rinse, dry and apply the new wafer, etc.    Experiment until you find the right thing for you.   Everyone is a little different.

Bella--ditto on the Eakin Seal...my "newest" stoma is a little funky and I don't get the wear time I used to but the Eakin Seal lets me get at least 3 days.  Once in a while I only get two but it usually means I wasn't as good lining up the hole of the wafer to my stoma!!  The soap (I use Dial, but I hate the smell...looks like I'll be trying Neutrogena soon!!) you use is very important, too.  I don't know about the wipes, but they may have a small amount of lotion...even tho they are unscented...their original purpose is something different then what ostomates need.  Personally, I take the select-a-size papertowels and tear them in half to use when cleaning mine...I don't want to have to do ANY MORE laundry then I already do:)

Definately check with your ET nurse/Doc regarding the stitches.  I did have to have one removed because it wasn't disolving and I kept pulling it.  Not a big deal only takes a second!

Tell your mom we'd love to have her join the board...Bennie would be a great one to offer insight from her (a mom's) point of view...not to mention all of us who have "been there, done that"!  Either way keep asking questions!!

Im so glad I changed it last night. But something happened that ended up with me crying on my parents shoulder =( I took a phenegren bc i ate eggs and they make me reallly nauseated. And when I take it it KNOCKS me out haha so i was making my bed and the blanket caught my clip on my bag and ripped it open! Poo goes flying everywhere so im standing there at the bottom of my bed with poo all over my leg bed and sheets!! I yelled for my mom and she came to clean it up while i ran to the bathroom crying like a little baby lol Dad comes in and im standing there with a piece of T.P. over my stoma incase it decided it wants to poo some more crying while hes holding me. I can barely see to put my new bag on and i go to bed with a killer headache ( when i cry for some reason i get a really bad headache) and then i wake up this morning get a glass of pop and climb back in bed and as im doing that i SPILL MY POP on my bed! lol i just shook my head and walked off. lol BUT even though all that happened im in a pretty good mood today =)
So i hope you all had a better night than I did although im sure this has happened to some of you.

Have a good day! and thanks for all the advice!

I guess guys are more tolerant of the "itchies". I can get at least five days out of mine but most of the time its only four. I know when I start getting the "itchies" then its close to time to change. I do use the rinse trick when I empty the bag but I use warm water instead. As for the the seal around my wafer, I use stoma paste. The eakin seals are to expensive for me and I can't get them from the pharmacy i get my supplies from. But I don't have to worry about my stoma for much longer cause I am having my reversal surgery on the 12th.

I hope this helps you out, and of course, everyone is different and has different ways of dealing with their ostomies.

Hey Peggy! Thanks for checking on me

The hints make a lot of sense. None of the doctors mentioned the soap thing. I might try that but right now Im using the non-scented baby wipes and they dont seem to be breaking me out. I am kinda broke out though because of that poo that got under my wafer and ever since I came home from the hospital after visiting the ostomy nurse theres always an almost blister like sore here and there right by my stoma..kinda like a red line where its broken out. But I think thats because the dumb ostomy nurse put that adhesive paste on my wafer and it REALLY broke me out. So I cant use that! How are you doing Peggy?

Humor deff helps me out ALOT! And im so thankful that my doctor gave me someones # who had this surgery to talk to BEFORE I had it done. His name is Nick and hes my angel Hes helped me so much! Hes in college at WVU and I kinda wanna get him something for helping me through all of this. I can call him right now or at 3 a.m. and he would answer and help me with anything. So what should I get him? Im pretty sure he has everything and everything you could have that has WVU on it. lol The ppl there really have school spirit haha ..hmm..oh and hes 20 if that helps anyone out.

Thank you for all of the advice and hints!

college kids ALWAYS love cookies and/or brownies!!  You could make it from scratch or buy a box of brownies and a couple of those "bags" of cookies...choco chip, peanut butter and oatmeal raisin...YUM:)