Blog posts of '2018' 'January'

Caring for the Skin Around Your Stoma Having an ostomy means caring for and monitoring the skin around your stoma. Imagine the circle of skin that goes directly around your stoma and think about the constant irritation that skin deals with every day. Your stomal skin is in almost constant contact with adhesives from your ostomy flange/wafer. Not to mention that at some point your stomal skin will be in contact with stomal output. This is a problem because the potential for irritation is constant and it isn't like you can just stop wearing an ostomy pouching system! The stomal skin comes into contact with so much irritation that some people think red and broken skin around their stoma is normal. It is not normal. Your stomal skin should be as healthy as the rest of your skin. You can't ignore skin irritation and you can't just accept it either. You have to try and heal it or better yet, you can work to prevent irritation from starting. Wearing an ostomy pouch is not optional. Most ostomates wear an ostomy pouch all the time, day and night.

What is a Bedside Commode? A bedside commode is a chair that can be used as a toilet when reaching a traditional toilet is difficult because of mobility or illness. Bedside commodes are also called commode chairs. The commode chair or bedside commode is made up of a chair with a toilet opening in the seat, a bucket that can be removed for cleaning, and it usually has arms to help with balance. Some commodes come equipped with drop arms to make transferring from a wheelchair easier. When the arm is lowered you can get yourself seated easier than trying to maneuver around an arm when you are transferring from a seated position. If you are walking to the bedside commode then standard arms will be more helpful so you can use the arms for balance while sitting.