Diabetic Foot Care

Informed skin and wound care

The Northwest Regional Wound Care Program believes in equitable and evidence-informed skin and wound care across the healthcare settings. Whether you are an individual dealing with wound issue, or a family member supporting someone in this situation, this is the ideal starting point for accessing information on:

  • Various types of skin and wound problems and corresponding treatments and preventive measures that could be included in your care plan
  • Available resources within your community
  • Measures you can personally undertake to prevent skin and wound issues and steps in healing process of your wounds

Resources by Wound Type

Wounds Care Canada Care at Home series offers resources to help you care for your wounds at home and support the care you receive from a health care provider:

Ostomy Resources and Support

Whether you are a person who is living with an ostomy or are a person who provides support to an individual living with an ostomy, this page has many resources to help support you. First, let’s start with a simple definition of some common terms you may find on this page.

An Ostomy or Stoma is a surgical opening of either your bowel or bladder to the abdomen. The purpose of the ostomy or stoma is to eliminate either stool or urine. Ostomies/Stomas are created to overcome problems with the bowel or bladder. There are three main categories of ostomies: colostomy, ileostomy, and urostomy. However, there are different types within each category depending on the type of disease and surgery you have had.

colostomy is created when a portion of the colon (or large intestine) is brought to the surface of the abdomen. The stool that is produced from a colostomy tends to be thicker and the stoma is most commonly located on the left hand side of the body.

An ileostomy is created when a portion of the small intestine is brought to the surface of the abdomen. The stool from an ileostomy tends to be more liquid and requires more frequent draining of the ostomy bag. Ileostomies are most commonly located on the right side of the body.

urostomy is created when the ureters (tubes that carry urine from your kidneys to your bladder) are used to create a connection to the abdomen surface. You will need to wear an ostomy bag at all times to collect the urine from this ostomy.

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