Learnings are simply part of life and each and every day new things come across my mind. I often am impressed when I come across words I don’t really know that well, yet recognize, and then learn more about them. For a long while there, I wasn’t aware of the term ostomy. This was something that wouldn’t last too long. I think it was something that floated around and I had known of, but I didn’t really know what it meant or what part of the body it was related to. I just understood it as a medical term. Of course when I did a little digging, it revealed itself to me as something pretty simple. It was a surgical procedure to create a stoma in someone’s abdomen for easier drainage of bodily waste. This is also something that I realized a lot of people I knew had. It made sense considering there’s likely a slew of problems that can go wrong with the human digestive tract and urinary system. I never would have fully known all this technical information, but I’m glad I did. Because knowledge is power and understanding is beautiful.
This has led to a small medical obsession. I’ve recently learned more about ostomies, and so I felt like sharing with you guys in case you weren’t aware of certain issues. Since we’ve talked about the different types of products, like major ostomy supplies companies, but we haven’t yet explored other issues like if you need to use accessories like certain skin barrier products. These are really important and can be the biggest and most needed part of your stoma care.
But not all products are the same and they can come in a bunch of different forms. Sometimes those come in the form of pastes or rings or even powders. But not everyone needs them, so it’s good to know the different reasons why you might use them and why they may actually be something you should stay away from. I would always consult your doctor on this part.
But when it comes to pastes they can be used for uneven areas in your skin or creases around your stoma. So all it takes is a little bit to help fill them. Strips can be different types of paste that you can use to fill in uneven areas, much in the same way a paste would do. But if your skin around the area is quite smooth, don’t use any. You’re likely misapplying you skin barrier if you have super smooth skin. Having good skin is really important and caring for it can be a major part of having an ostomy.
Now due to the stuff that is inside of these products you need to be careful. Since some of these contain a burning sensation from alcohol, you’ll want to know how your skin is feeling and how it reacts to such products. And you should only apply a little around place near your skin barrier system where there’s an area that could cause leaks. Don’t use it more than you need to. It could really be dangerous. What you need to do is just listen to your body and how it handles your Hollister ostomy supplies. There should be zero discomforts or pain, and you know when to listen to your body’s signals.
Ostomy Log 