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Pain around ostomy site

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Posted 7/29/2014 5:05 AM (GMT 0)
Starting about 3 weeks after surgery I noticed I get sharp pains around my stoma site periodically. No idea what causes them but omg sometimes it feels like I want to go through the ceiling. I thought it was a leak at first, but the pain comes and goes. I'm assuming a leak would be kind of a constant chemical burn feeling.

It seems pushing gently on that area helps it go away and when I have output I notice the pain a little more. Is this normal? Should I be concerned? I never had this sharp pain before. I'm kind of thinking it's just the body working on healing (maybe me overdoing it a little) and things getting used again when I was really taking it easy. I also, noticed when I lay on my side I really feel the pain sometimes.

Thank you in advance for the input!
Posted 7/29/2014 1:08 PM (GMT 0)
Hey Axis, do you know if these pains happen when your stoma is trying to output?
Posted 7/29/2014 1:42 PM (GMT 0)
Is it sporadic? I had pains around the stoma site on & off for the first 2 months after surgery, but they decreased as time went on. I still get them, occasionally. And it does tend to occur just before output. If they're not too bad, I'd wait a week or so, see if they lessen. You coudl also call your surgeons office & just run it by one of the nurses there, see what they think.
Posted 7/30/2014 1:45 AM (GMT 0)
It seems to slightly correlate a little more with output. But, sometimes there is no output and it hurts. It has been getting a little better over the past few days. Not quite as sharp, but certainly still hurts in that area at times (yes, sporadic, however, laying on my side it consistently hurt for a few days). I'm kind of thinking part of it may have been because I was trying to flatten out a wrinkle very close to the stoma on my baseplate. All the extra pressure may have aggravated me a bit more. Not really sure though. Thanks for the responses!
Posted 7/30/2014 8:58 PM (GMT 0)
I think I feel more comfortable when I put a barrier ring under my flange or base ...Holister. Im only out of surgery for four weeks now and still wondering what should be what with the healing process.
Posted 8/4/2014 2:51 AM (GMT 0)
Axis
What is the condition of your skin around your stoma? If it is irritated or open you will feel sharp stinging during output. If that is the case you need to address your skin condition. What "equipment" do you use?

Dan
Posted 8/4/2014 11:58 AM (GMT 0)
Next wafer change make sure you measure your stoma as it does change size from time to time and make sure you cut the wafer properly as you could be restricting it as it's trying to pass stool.
Posted 8/5/2014 7:08 PM (GMT 0)
The skin is actually decent until you get to the very edge where the stoma comes out. There it's a bit red and beatup looking. No idea how I could possibly fix this as I don't want to cut the stoma hole too small. My stoma is thinner where it comes out of my body than it is up higher too. So, when I put a barrier ring on, it raises the hole I cut and it's a little tighter. The most recent baseplate I used is one of the adjustable ones that you roll. This one fits quite tightly and actually looks like it unfolded a little towards my stoma. I think it might be getting a little too tight, so I'll be changing early tomorrow. Other than that I don't think I've really cut them too tightly, but I'm trying to keep them snug.

Strangely on a side note but stoma became swollen at some point after arriving home. I don't know if the bag was cut too small or what exactly happened. It grew about 1/4" in diameter. I wasn't able to eat or anything and figured it was ileus again. I'm wondering if it swelled first and that caused me to block up now. I'll never know, but definitely don't want to go through that again. The pain was real.
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