Depending on your personal style preferences, you may want to try trousers with waistband pleats, which can give you more room across the stoma pouch area. These types of trousers are available in most stores. A belt can sometimes cause a problem if it goes across the stoma. Braces may work better.
If your stoma is near your waist, avoid tight pants, skirts or belts that sit directly over the stoma. You may feel more comfortable wearing pants or skirts with a higher or looser waistband, or with an elastic waistband.
Leggings and cosy jumpers
Top tip – high waisted black gym or yoga leggings are insanely comfortable, flattering and supportive. Pair them with a nice cosy top half that you can wear tucked in or baggy (for those comfier times or to disguise a filling bag).
There are specialist stoma underwear, swimwear and clothing companies that produce clothing for people with stomas but this is not necessary to purchase or wear – your usual clothing should be suitable.
Make sure your clothes are not too tight around the bag.
You may need to be careful that waistbands do not rest below the stoma restricting ability to drain into your pouch. Depending on stoma placement, you may feel more comfortable with high- or low-rise waistband items, like underwear, jeans, or activewear.
You might be entitled to some ostomy underwear, waistbands, and support belts on prescription, so do check with your stoma nurse. I mainly stuck to wearing tighter vest tops underneath whatever I was wearing in the colder months. During the summer I wore tights over my bag, or skater style dresses.
Wearing multiple layers of clothes can also help to minimize the visibility of a pouch. Swimming is often a concern, as those with ostomies feel that the pouch will be highly visible under snug bathing suits. Again, choosing a bathing suit with dark colors and/or a pattern will help to conceal the pouch.
Once home, avoid strenuous activities that could place a strain on your abdomen, such as lifting heavy objects. Your stoma nurse will give you advice about how soon you can go back to normal activities. At first you will pass wind through your stoma and then, usually within 2 or 3 days, you poo through it.
People who are used to sleeping on their stomach can still do so with some minor adjustments, such as nestling a pillow under their bent stoma-side knee to create a gap between the pouch and the mattress. That way, your stoma and pouch aren't squeezed beneath your body.
Bending. It's near enough in possible to do gardening without having to bend down. This is fine, but you can bend down in a way that reduces the risk of injuring your stomach muscles and stoma area. For example, rather than bending over at your waist, try bending down slowly at your knees.
It's always a good idea to empty or change your stoma bag before you go to bed as it will help to prevent your bag from filling up too much overnight and disturbing your sleep. A full stoma bag is always at risk of leaking and that's not something you want to experience during the night.
Having diarrhoea will often mean that the stoma bag needs to be changed much more regularly than usual. This can mean that you go through supplies much quicker and also lead to irritation of the peristomal skin.
You may wish to keep your clothing loose for the first couple of weeks, because your tummy may feel uncomfortable. But the good news is that in a few weeks, you should be able to wear your usual clothes. Wearing tight-fitting clothes will not affect your stoma.
You must still include fibre in your diet. Choose some foods from the following list daily: Wholemeal bread. High fibre cereal e.g. Weetabix, porridge.
Many people enjoy leaving their skin uncovered for 15 to 30 minutes after taking their pouching system off. This is called a skin break. Taking a skin break can help with irritation or keep it from happening. You can decide if you want to take a skin break.
It's totally safe to shower without a stoma bag as long as you just use water and pH-autobalancing soap. In fact, 29%* of colostomy patients always shower bag-less, another 29%* on 3-4 days per week. However, in case of a recent surgery, wounds, or high output, you should leave the bag on while showering.
Can a colostomy bag qualify for disability benefits? Yes. As a general rule, if you have a colostomy bag that makes it difficult to work, you'll qualify as disabled. If your colostomy bag is functioning well or if you expect to have it reversed within the year, you probably won't qualify.
Can you still poop with a colostomy bag? Pooping will be different with a colostomy bag. Immediately after your surgery, your anus may continue to expel poop and other fluids that were left inside. But new poop will now exit through your stoma.
Keeping hydrated with an ileostomy, colostomy and urostomy
You should try to drink 6-8 glasses of water each day along with any other drinks such as tea or coffee.
Issues or problems with the skin around the stoma is probably the most common complication for ostomates. Not only is having sore skin extremely uncomfortable for the patient but it can also compromise the attachment of the bag to the skin causing leaks and leading to further skin damage.
How often it needs to be changed depends on which type of bag you use. Closed bags may need changing 1 to 3 times a day. There are also drainable bags that need to be replaced every 2 or 3 days. These may be suitable for people who have particularly loose poos.
After a colostomy, you can expect to feel better and stronger each day. But you may get tired quickly at first. Your belly may be sore, and you will probably need pain medicine for a week or two. Your stoma will be swollen at first.