How To Prevent Skin Damage From Exposure To Urine and Stool

Clean, moisturize, protect and treat. 

Incontinence affects the skin. It can lead to impaired skin integrity, and cause skin breakdown and susceptibility to:

• Maceration.
• Incontinence dermatitis.
• Bacterial infection.
• Exposure to Caustic Agents.
• Fungal infection.

How can you prevent skin damage from exposure to urine and stool? Proper and consistent skin care is needed to prevent skin damage from incontinence. You want to keep the area clean and dry, use the right products, and adopt a good skin care regimen. The proper regimen is to clean, moisturize, protect, and treat. 

First, choose the right products, and change them regularly. 

There are a number of products available for incontinence care, and they offer moisture protection, wicking moisture barriers, and more. However, the best way to protect the skin is not just to buy quality products to protect the skin, but also to change the incontinence products as soon as soiling occurs to avoid excessive skin wetness. Changing incontinence products regularly will protect skin from prolonged exposure to moisture. To find the ideal products, visit The Incontinence Product Finder ,  which can help you to easily sort and select from over 600 products.

Second, clean the skin often.

Urine and feces can have bacteria in them, which can compromise skin integrity. Cleanse the skin often. You want to do this gently, and using a specially formulated cleanser. Do not just clean the skin after fecal incontinence, but after urine as well. Urine can break down the skin just as much as fecal incontinence.

Using a specially formulated skin cleanser, designed for those with incontinence, is far superior to just soap and water. Such cleansers can help remove dried on fecal matter, and urine more easily, reducing the amount of scrubbing and friction. It will also help to prevent dryness.

Next, maintain the skin at its natural pH range.

How do you do this? You can do this by again using formulated skin products designed for incontinence care. Learn more about great products.

Use a barrier ointment to minimize direct contact with urine and feces. Such an ointment will reduce the direct contact the skin has with urine, feces, and perspiration.

Take care of your body and health. Stay hydrated and eat well to maintain skin integrity. Seniors who do not care for their body with proper nutrition and hydration will see the signs through their skin.

Specialized incontinence supplies that gently cleanse and protect the skin are superior to soap and water. Maintaining healthy skin in spite of incontinence is not only possible, but with the right products, it is probable.

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About The CareGiver Partnership. The CareGiver Partnership helps caregivers and their loved ones with answers to their caregiving questions, including information about home health care products and supplies, from our Wisconsin-based team of Product Specialists who are all current or former caregivers. The company’s Web site provides the largest online library of resources on subjects most important to caregivers — from arthritis to assisted living, and Parkinson’s to prostate cancer — as well as access to more than 3,000 home care products for incontinence, skin care, mobility, home safety and daily living aids. The CareGiver Partnership was founded in 2004 by Lynn Wilson of Neenah, Wisc. Visithttp://www.caregiverpartnership.com to learn more or call 1-800-985-1353.

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