Useful Ostomy Supplies For the Overweight

For ostomates with some bulk and heft around the stoma, the extra skin can fold, increasing perspiration and moving the skin in ways that can loosen the barrier’s hold. The skin can also become more easily irritated in these situations if the barrier does leak, causing skin irritation, rashes, and other unpleasant situations. Thankfully, there are some ways you can mitigate these issues:

Ostomy Paste – Pastes such as the very popular Stomahesive Paste will help fill in any uneven skin around the stoma that can cause leaks or problems with skin barrier adhesion. This makes wear time longer (meaning less appliance changes and money saved) and makes wear more comfortable. Some other pastes are Hollister Karaya Paste, Hollister Adapt Paste, and Coloplast Ostomy Paste.

Ostomy Powder- Powders are helpful to absorb the moisture before placing an Ostomy adhesive or appliance against the skin.

Conformable Wafers – Stomas come in all shapes and sizes. Most skin barriers come pre-cut or cut-to-fit. There are also flexible, conformable barriers such as ConvaTec’s SUR-FIT Natura Skin barriers with Stomahesive, designed to conform and adhere to the contours of the body.

Cohesive Seals – Cohesive seals are moldable donut-shaped, gel-like rings that conform between skin and appliances to help prevent leakage. It’s perfect for hard-to-fit stomas and come in sizes around 4” you can cut down and form to any size and shape you need.

Interesting Ostomy Products You May Not Have Seen ...

Most vendors of ostomy products provide pouches, wafers, adhesives, pastes, and even some skin products. But, there’s a whole collection of Ostomy products developed by creative and entrepreneurial ostomates who have sought extra convenience, discreetness, and safety.

Here are a collection of some of the products you may not have seen in stores:

Ostomy Armor – Ostomy Armor is a waist belt with a left or right-sided protective shield that fits over the stoma and pouch to protect it. It’s perfect for those who move a lot, preventing pouch punctures, leaks, blowouts, etc. OstomyArmor.com also sells Kevlar and Carbon Fiber pouched covers, so if you ever take a bullet, you’ll probably want it aimed at your Stoma.

My Heart Ties - Attractive, feminine ostomy pouch covers for women. These slip over an Ostomy pouch to make it look less “medical” and more “accessory”.

Ostaway X-Bag Disposable Bags – There are probably other opaque baggies similar to this made for diapers and such, but it’s an easy way to dispose of used Ostomy appliances discreetly and quickly if you’re in public. These baggies are leak-proof, help keep odors contained, and will fit the ostomy appliances of major brands.

Stomico Ostomy Wafer Pliers – If you’re cutting your own ostomy wafers, or cutting them for your patients, you can quickly and easily get a perfect cut with Stomico’s ostomy pliers and changeable cutting discs that measure between 17mm and 43mm.

Ostomy EZ Clean - EZ Clean is a system that fits to your home or apartment’s water supply. It attaches to a drainable Ostomy pouch to flush and clean it out quickly through a tap installed on the top. EZ Clean helps make cleaning out pouches easier, faster and more sanitary.

Osto-EZ-Vent – EZ-Vent is a pouch vent that can be installed on most ostomy pouches, designed for quick controlled relief of gas from an Ostomy pouch without removing it. It lasts for the lifetime of the pouch. (It also works on stoma caps and esophageal fistula pouches.)