A surgical procedure to reroute a person’s digestive and urinary waste out of the body is ostomy. A small opening called a stoma is surgically created in the abdomen to create a direct pathway from the colon or ileum to diver the waste.

There are several possible reasons for a person to require a stoma – bowel cancer, bladder cancer, bowel ulcers, incontinence. The waste diverted is collected in a prosthetic called an ‘ostomy pouch’.

Life after ostomy surgery is challenging and you may encounter a lot of complications. The most common complication is skin irritation and ostomy leakage.

Continuous use of ostomy support can cause peristomal skin irritation and if the pouch does not fit properly, it can result in leakage.

Ostomy Barrier Ring

The barrier ring is an important innovation to reduce leakage of an ostomy pouch. The ring is placed just at the rim of the ostomy barrier to cover up any gaps between the barrier and the stoma skin. The rings swell up when they encounter liquid or ostomy discharge and provide an effective cushion like protection. The rings are made of flexible material that allows them to stretch and adapt accordingly.

Barrier strips are available in a broad variety of shapes to fit all kinds of anatomical structures and meet all kinds of requirements. Barrier rings give you full freedom to stretch them, expand or minimize their size and even layer up when needed.

Barrier rings help caulk the uneven skin contour around the peristomal stomal passage to create an effective, flat surface for reducing possible stomal leakage by improving the fit of the pouching system.

Moldable Barrier Rings: Types and sizes –

Barrier rings are available in the market in variable sizes based on the ostomy pouch it is attached to. The rings can be both moldable and non-moldable, pre-cut, and are of varied shapes – oval, convex, round.

How to use an ostomy barrier ring?

Barrier rings come in donut-like shapes with adhesive seals that fit snugly around the stomal opening and are moldable. You can mold them into varied shapes to fill in gaps and crevices. Barrier rings are simple to handle as they are already sold in pre-designed ring-like shapes to fit around the barrier.

How to stop ostomy leakage?

The ostomy pouch should fit snugly to your stomal opening. Leakages can happen due to several reasons – loosely fit ostomy pouches, uneven skin contour at the stomal juncture, wrong pouch sizes. An ostomy pouch should allow you to live freely and do daily activities.

If your daily activities cause your stoma to leak or moisten up, you need an ostomy barrier.

Ostomy barriers keep the ostomy pouch in place and reduce stomal leakage caused due to movement. The ostomy barrier is then kept in position by using an adhesive strip or ring which are foldable and malleable objects and can be cut into pieces or even layered to provide extra security to the barrier.

Where to buy Ostomy barrier rings near me?

Ostomy barrier rings along with other ostomy supplies can be bought from local pharmaceutical distributors with a prescription. Your doctor shall write up all the supplies you require along with how many you require. If you require more appliance accessories like barrier rings and seals, your distributor may ask for a prescription again.

Barrier rings are sold in boxes of 10-20 individually packed barriers of two types of thicknesses. Talk to your doctor, discuss your ostomy needs and get a prescribed list of your requirements.

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Ostomy surgery can happen at any age and it does not mean low life expectancy, rather it is the beginning of a new challenging life. Ostomy leakages are the most feared complications which can turn into severe skin diseases. Hope this blog helps you in understanding how a barrier helps in protecting the skin from leakages and ensures a healthy life after an ostomy.