Bath

Hi nan-nan, 

I had my stoma on 1st April, had showers almost straight away in hospital as I was in for 11 days. I have a bath and a shower at home. I do love a nice relaxing bath and I started having them in the evenings to relax me as soon as I came out of hospital. I got one of those non slip mats to put in the bath  from Amazon and had help getting in and out for the first few weeks while my tummy was healing, and didn't soak for too long while the staples were still in, but all is great now.

I keep my bag on and I believe the warm water helps the wafer stick more, I have never had a leakage in the bath. I think you can leave the bag off if you prefer but I have an ileostomy and sometimes the output is quite liquid and ferocious, so it wouldn't be a good idea for me.

I haven't used bubble baths or anything in the water as I am not sure if this would loosen the adhesive.

Enjoy your bath. Light the candles, have a glass of wine and chill out!

Take care and keep safe x

Normally within 2 to 3 days you should be able to shower or bathe unless advised otherwise by your stoma care nurse.

It is fine to have a bath or shower with your stoma bag on, if
you prefer. Remember that the adhesive is designed to actually
stick more tightly when exposed to water, so it may be better to
change your bag before you bathe or shower. If you are having a bath, it is always best to empty or change your bag beforehand,
to stop it from floating in the water.
Many people with a colostomy have a shower or bath without
a bag on. This is perfectly safe. Some people worry about water
entering their body. This is very unlikely to happen and certainly
would not hurt you if it did. If you are worried about your stoma
when you are showering, a good tip is to use a stoma cap to
cover it, to prevent irritation. If you are bathing, you may prefer
to keep your bag on, in case your stoma is active when you are
in the bath and leaks stool into the water.
If you have an ileostomy, its advisable to keep your bag on during bathing, but you can remove it for a shower.
If your bag has a filter on it, then cover the filter with one of the
sticky labels provided in the box. This will prevent water from
clogging the filter. Remove the label after bathing.

Hope this answers your question, need more information don't hesitate to give The BODACH a shout out.

Ian

Stoma Support Group CC

Thank-you Phoebeb,the chill out does sound nice, i love a soak,and have missed it, not sure about the wine, but the candles sound good ,All the best to you, Take care x

Thank-you Ian, im still not sure what i have il ask the nurse when she calls to see me this week, as i said before nothing was really explained to me, all i know is i have a pouch on, i shower with 1 on too, not sure how i would feel without it, its a lot to get used to yet, even tho i manage to change it ok,i had new pouches delivered but no window on these, my old 1s had a window so i could keep a check on my out put, but Thank-you again for the advice, All the best to you, Take care x

Hi nan nan,

I now shower without my bag on. It actually feels quite liberating. It did take a while before I felt confident enough to have go. Just remember to keep a dry wipe handy to pop over your stoma when you get out, otherwise you'll be washing the bath mat if your stoma decides to output! 

I also have a chair,a towel and dressing gown along with my bag changing paraphernalia ready close by to put a new bag on afterwards.  You don't want to be getting organised and finding things one handed with the other hand keeping your stoma from leaking over the furnishings! I'm sure you'll find your own system soon enough .

Good luck x