Ostomy Issues

An ostomy can be a life-changing surgical procedure that requires ongoing management. While many patients adapt successfully to ostomy care, complications affecting the stoma itself or the surrounding skin (peristomal area) can develop, causing pain, leakage, infection, and significant distress. These complications range from minor skin irritation to serious tissue breakdown that makes appliance adhesion impossible.

At Best Wound Care, our Nurse Practitioners manage ostomy-related complications that extend beyond routine ostomy care. We treat peristomal skin breakdown, mucocutaneous separation, wounds developing under or around ostomy appliances, moisture-associated damage from chronic leakage, and other tissue problems that complicate ostomy management and quality of life.

Why Ostomy Issues Need Specialized Care

Ostomy complications have an impact on function and quality of life, creating unique challenges that significantly affect patients' lives:

Eroded, inflamed peristomal skin is extremely painful. Every appliance change becomes an ordeal, and constant burning or stinging affects daily function.

Pain and Discomfort

Psychological Impact

Fear of leakage, odor, and visible drainage leads to social isolation. Patients become homebound, unable to work or participate in activities they previously enjoyed.

Infection Risk

Open areas around stomas are continuously exposed to fecal matter or urine, creating high infection risk that can spread to deeper tissues.

Rapid Deterioration

Skin breakdown can progress quickly. What starts as minor irritation can become severe erosion within 24-48 hours.

Expertise Required

Successfully managing ostomy complications demands expertise in both wound care and ostomy management—understanding how to heal damaged tissue while maintaining a functioning ostomy system.

Signs An Ostomy Complication Needs Specialized Care

Any peristomal complication that affects appliance function or causes patient distress warrants specialized evaluation and treatment. These signs indicate ostomy complications require specialized wound care:

Skin Breakdown and Damage

  • Peristomal skin that's red, eroded, weeping, or bleeding

  • Wounds developing under or around the appliance

  • White, waterlogged, or macerated skin

  • Rash, bumps, or blisters on peristomal skin

Pain and Patient Impact:

  • Pain or burning around the stoma

  • Patient avoiding appliance changes due to pain or difficulty

  • Increasing frustration or depression about ostomy management

Appliance Adhesion Problems:

  • Frequent appliance leakage (more than once between changes)

  • Inability to keep appliance adhered for more than 24 hours

  • Multiple product trials without finding effective solution

Infection Signs

  • Foul odor from under the appliance

  • Fungal infection (red rash with satellite lesions)

Stoma and Tissue Change

  • Separation between stoma and skin

  • Excessive granulation tissue around stoma

  • Stoma changes (retraction, prolapse, discoloration)

Contact us

Ostomy complications affecting peristomal skin and tissue require providers who understand both advanced wound care and ostomy management. Our Nurse Practitioners bring this dual expertise, treating tissue damage while maintaining ostomy function and helping patients regain confidence in their ostomy care. We work to break the cycle of skin breakdown and leakage that makes daily life difficult.

Contact Best Wound Care today to provide your ostomy patients experiencing complications the specialized care that restores skin health and quality of life.