Where do you go for really good stoma gear?
Shopping can really be hard in 2021 especially since the in-person experience is mostly gone. It is true, that almost all shopping is done online these days. So if you are new to the ostomy world then I hope I am able to help you out a bit. This is not because I am unique or have a strangely shaped stoma, although some people do. I think it is because I didn't want to change my life at all. I enjoy being an active person and love being outside and enjoying the great outdoors. I think this is why I struggled with finding gear that simply worked for me. Now, I am by no means the most athletic person and don't pretend to be an expert but I know that we are all different that what works for one person with a stoma does not work for another necessarily. So that whole issue got me into trouble and I want you to be able to avoid my mistakes and to find the perfect ostomy gear for you. So here is how I go about learning about gear and where to find it. Each place to research has its own benefits and cons. So I want to walk through what I have done and hope that helps.
I love getting professional advice from the source. That means to me a doctor or engineer. That means that the best advice that I can give is to find knowledgeable people who have used the gear or create the gear to be the best option. That means that my first suggestion is to go find professionals in the field and most people only have to look to their phone or right down the road to the pharmacy. There is also an amazing benefit from knowing your local pharmacist and getting to know what they do on the topic.
My pharmacist had been in the business a very long time. He knew a ton about the changes in the industry and what helped the industry to get there. He stocked the gear that worked for them and he had had hundreds of conversations about it. This means that this doctor had a lot of experience in why he liked certain companies and what they did for his customers. I was lucky to be able to talk for a while and get a lot of good advice. His goal was to have the best basics for most situations, but he knew that for specialty gear that others could get it at better prices from online locations and he led people to those locations. One cool thing I learned was to go and ask the major corporations about their gear.
It took me some time to get the courage up, but I decided to call up a few big corporations that specialized in ostomy gear. In the end, they gave me way more questions and knowledge than I had even thought of. This was amazing and they sent me some free samples to see what may work best for me. Honestly, I learned a ton and would do it all over again. Hence, why I suggest it. So find what works best for you and make sure to live and enjoy life with good gear!