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Caution: Watch for red, irritated areas. If excessive redness or pimples occur around the opening, call your doctor, reduce humidity delivered around the opening, and use only sterile water for cleaning. Do not use over-the-counter, petroleum-based creams like zinc oxide or Vaseline™* products around the opening. If your doctor prescribes an ointment, apply it according to his or her instructions.
Skin care is easy but very important. It should be done at least twice a day: once in the morning and once at night. If you smell an odour around the neck or opening, clean the area every eight hours until the odour is gone.
What you will need:
Follow this cleaning procedure to replace your reusable inner cannula
Wash your hands.
Dip a cotton swab into the hydrogen peroxide and water mixture.
Roll the cotton swab between the tracheostomy tube and the skin around the opening. Clean from the stoma outward. This removes wet or dried mucus.
Repeat steps 2 and 3 using a fresh cotton swab each time, until the entire area around the opening is clean.
Rinse the area using clean cotton swabs dipped in clean water only.
Use a dry gauze pad to pat lightly around the opening.
Replace the tracheostomy dressing, if required.
Learn more about Skin care in the home setting.
This material is intended to be educational and is not a diagnostic tool. It is not intended to replace the information provided to you by your healthcare providers and does not constitute medical advice. The information may not be directly applicable for your individual clinical circumstance. Please refer to the manufacturers’ prescribing information and/or instructions for use for the indications, contraindications, warnings, and precautions associated with the [medications and] devices referenced in these materials.
