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Why I Value My Peristomal Skin Health

Having had a stoma on and off for the last 12 years and having it made permanent in 2018, I have been through the mill. It’s not very often that I moan about things but my peristomal skin health from 2009-2012 and then the brief period of 2016 was absolutely awful. If you’re suffering from burnt macerated skin then it can make the thought of living with a stoma absolutely daunting. 

The first 4 weeks of my second stoma life were abysmal and I spent a lot of time crying and trying to get bags to stick. Due to my burnt skin, I was changing anything up to 6 times a day and my skin was absolutely wrecked. 

I went to see my stoma nurse two days before Christmas and all I can say was that appointment and the products changed my life for the better!!

I was introduced to Pelican Healthcare products and I have never looked back, I have tried other products but for me, nothing else compares. 

My journey with Pelican products

When I was at my wits end my stoma nurse introduced me to Pelican Platinum Contour, I didn’t think at the time with the state of my skin that they would help. It was my first Christmas post-op and I was genuinely amazed that within 3 days my skin had pretty much healed and cleared. 

The next step with the bags was introducing barrier rings (the Eakin Cohesive Slim). I was changing my appliance daily as my output was eating away at the baseplate and still causing a little sore macerated area underneath my stoma. 

My next issue was contact dermatitis. Daily changes were causing skin stripping and a really dry itchy stoma site. I had tried barrier creams but not with much success. 

Vitamin E 

Pelican brought out Vitamin E in 2018 and that changed my life. I went from daily changes to maybe changing twice a week at most. My contact dermatitis cleared up and my peristomal skin has never been healthier. I regularly post photos of my bare stoma and site and other ostomates always ask me about vitamin E and how it helps.

When the one-piece ModaVi was launched I jumped at the chance, with vast improvements to the bags material, outlet and the added bonus of added Vitamin E in the base to keep my stoma site nice and healthy. 

Why I value my healthy stoma site

Having a healthy stoma site means I worry less about issues. I rarely leak unless it’s self-inflicted, I don’t have to worry about my base plate coming off. By having healthy skin and trusting in my appliance I don’t have to worry about my stoma impacting my life. Having a good routine means my stoma rarely impacts my life and has overall improved my quality of life and I forget I have a stoma half the time. 

My tips for healthy peristomal skin 

  • I only change my appliance twice a wee –  less stripping of the skin
  • I use dry wipes with plain warm water to clean the site and dry wipes to dry
  • I use a barrier ring – this barrier ring stops output from sitting on my skin
  • Cut the baseplate to the correct size – the better the fit the less skin area for output to sit on
  • I use adhesive remover to remove the bag and adhesive remover wipes to remove the barrier ring residue

Hoping this helps others. 

As always 

Many thanks for reading 

Louise Xx

Meet the blogger: Louise

Meet Louise! She’s a blogger and ambassador for Pelican and has been for the last 3 years