Posted 1/6/2016 6:46 PM (GMT 0)
Hey Swollen- I'm in the same boat- can't get a pouch to last more than 24 hours, and when I change, it's almost leaking right out to edges- I empty my pouch with water, and the pouch will be fine for the first day, and evening, but next morning is when it seems to leak when I empty in morning- like you the edge where I cut the seal lifts up- and that is when the trouble starts- I had been using Hollister medical adhesive for years, and had no issues with sticking until just recently- My stoma changes width and that means I can't put edge of the cut wafer too close to my stoma as if I do it works the edge up and off the skin even more- so that means there has to be exposed skin around stoma, and of course it irritates the skin, and things just start really getting worse
The things I've found that help a little is to temporarily use an eakin seal as something In the eakin seal helps heal the skin- The Eakins don't stick any better for me than the normal wafer- but at least they allow skin to heal- after a couple of says, changing every day, I find the skin looks much better-
IF the skin is weeping like yours does, I use the Eakins and just pray it holds long enough that the skin will begin to heal
Another good healing product are Karaya pouches- the karaya really heals skin good- but skin needs to be dry before applying- and always use Hollister adhesive on skin and karaya for a good seal- but do note that the karaya pouches are crap now- you will really have to check if the karaya is sealed well to the plastic ring- for the past few years, they have been doing a lousy job gluing the karaya to the plastic seal, and I've been getting leaks between karaya and pouch as a result- (I tried speaking with Hollister about this issue and they simply deny anything is wrong with the karaya pouches- even after I sent them back pouches with arrows pointing to the gaps between karaya and ring- I've tried all kinds of ways to glue the karaya to the ring- but none hold- seems it has to be done right during manufacturing, or else it won't hold right)
IF you are lucky and find a box of karayas pouches where the karaya is melted and glued down ALL the way around between karaya and plastic ring- then I'd grab a box and keep them on hand for when you skin does this to you- Don't worry about the karaya not being right up against the stoma, as it will melt and swell just a bit in towards the stoma as the day goes along-
Karaya has a unique healing property to it, and back when I was wearing them exclusively, when they were making htem well, My skin never had any issues at all- The karaya IS however hard to remove- you almost have to scrape it off with a fingernail- but it's worth it if it heals the skin-
IF you decide to try them0- in your case, you might have to start with dusting the skin with powder first, then I''d apply Hollister medical adhesive over the powder- allow to dry, apply to karaya- allow to dry- then dry your skin off right before applying pouch tlo make sure no weeping will be under the seal-
I have never had any luck with the new style wafers- I can only get one day out of them and it's really pushing it, and my skin gets raw after awhile where the contents leak up and under the wafer- The Karaya on the other hand melts to your skin with the heat of your body- This stuff really melts and creates a great barrier- it might be worth a try for you