People who have had an ostomy surgery, they need time to come to terms with the new physical change in their bodies. Not just this, they also have to learn a new way of taking care of themselves. You may have to go for ostomy surgery if you have Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, or colon cancer. Once the surgery is done and you have a stoma, your nurse or doctor will explain to you how to care for it at home. It is advised that you keep learning new ways or methods of keeping your stoma safe. In this blog, we will share with you some tips on how to safely live with a stoma. Let’s get started.
Prevent Backsplash
Many people find that when they try to empty their bag in the toilet, they experience backsplash. To solve this problem, you can do a simple thing. When you are emptying the bag, try flushing at the same time. When you do this, backsplash won’t happen due to water rushing down.
Get Rid of Hair Around The Stoma
Not everyone but most people have some hair on their abdomen. Some people have coarser hair while others have fine hair. It is best to remove them from the area of stoma so that wafer can stick to your skin without any problem. You can use an electric shaver to remove those hair, which is better than using a blade as that can cut the skin or damage the stoma.
Change Appliance On Empty Stomach
We will advise you to change without any output first thing in the morning. It has been found that the output slows down quite a bit if you finish eating a few hours before going to bed and sleep for a good 7 to 8 hours every night. But if you choose to eat first before changing the appliance, we will recommend you to consume a nutrient packed food that will not cause any immediate output.
Do Not Use Baby Wipes
Healthcare professionals recommend that people with stomas should not use baby wipes for cleaning the area as those wipes contain chemicals that leave a film on the skin and make wafer sticking a difficult task. Apart from baby wipes, do not use any other wipe even if it claims to be all natural as such wipes can too cause problems. You can simply use plain water and washcloth to clean the area. If that is not possible, you can safely opt for saline wipes as they won’t cause any problem.
Apart from these, you can consider using stoma shower cover as well. When you need to properly cover your stoma and prevent water from entering anywhere close to it, using our Shower Shield Cover would be the right decision. It is suitable for PICC lines, peripheral lines, ostomies, Hickman Catheters, ports, pediatrics, and stomas. Our Shower Shield Cover comes in multiple sizes and will fully cover ostomy bag.
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