Page 8 - OASC January 2021 Newsletter 2

• Proper Clothing — If you walk a lot, wear clothes that allow your stoma and appliances some breathing room. You’ll decrease friction of the clothing against the baseplate (which can cause edges to come loose), and decrease irritation of the baseplate against the skin. If you want extra protection, you may consider Ostomy Armor or StealthBelt products designed to protect a stoma and appliance.
Sleeping...
There are numerous stories where someone’s ostomy pouch has exploded or leaked while sleeping, causing a big mess. But even if you catch it before a mess is made, you’ll still have to interrupt your sleep to manage your ostomy.
• Nutrition — Keep track of what you eat and how it affects your ostomy! Especially new ostomates who have not yet seen how their diet affects their ostomy. All foods are digested differently; this includes how your body passes it.
• Drain before bed — A no-brainer really; drain or change the pouch before bed and again when you first wake up.
Odour...
In the air, in the body, in the pouch — there are numerous ways to help prevent odours.
• Carry a Spray — Something strong enough to neutralize airborne odours instantly. They’re sold in stores but there are strong, fast working options that are convenient enough to carry in a travel pack.
• Use a Pouch Deodorizer — Pouch deodorizers are either a drop formula that goes into the pouch to neutralize odours inside, or a vent and filter system that is either integrated or attached to the pouch to drain gas. For example, ConvaTec ActiveLife pouches or Filtrodor Filters from Coloplast.
Blowouts...
A pouch ‘blowout’ is the mother of all nightmare ostomy accidents, second only to not having the supplies to clean & re-pouch. Blowouts can happen for a number of reasons: faulty appliances, poor appliance changing, external pressures on a pouch, or the fasteners on a pouch coming loose.
Gas buildup in a pouch can fill it very quickly. With an ostomy appliance, the point of weakest resistance is always going to be the first place to pop open. This is usually going to be the barrier/pouch (flange) connection or, in the case of drainable pouches, the drain outlet at the bottom. There must be a way to release the gas from the pouch. Many pouches come with integrated gas filters, but if yours does not, you can install one like the Osto-EZ-Vent. n
Hopefully these tips prove useful for you.
Parts of this article was taken from — http://www.ostomyguide.com/managing-ostomy-accidents-leaks-sleeping-odors-blowouts/
A friend’s mother just turned 108. When asked the biggest change she’d seen in her lifetime, she replied “antibiotics”. Puts things into perspective, eh?
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