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Necessary Ostomy Information That New Ostomates Must Have

An ostomate is a person with any kind of ostomy. Being a new ostomate, you are going to hear or read certain terms that might be new to you. The most common terms that a new ostomate gets to hear frequently are ostomy pouches, ostomy barriers, flanges, baseplates, and many more. The medical team working on your ostomy uses these and many other terms which you might not have any knowledge about. While they know well about these terms and their contexts, they might assume that you also have an understanding about these terms.

While not knowing about something is not a bad thing, it can turn out to be detrimental for you if you are not advocating for yourself. It means that you need to ask your doctor or nurse about anything that you do not understand. Ask them to show you the picture or sample of any item that may be related to the treatment procedure involved in your case. Even a temporary ostomy tends to be a long term feature of you, so you will have to learn to live with it. Learning ostomy terms is an important part of it.

You also need to learn important procedures that are required for proper ostomy management. You need to learn about the right way to take off the old ostomy pouch and attach a new one. And before you leave the hospital, you will need to find out how you are going to get the supplies that you need.

Before leaving the hospital after ostomy surgery

It is very important to learn the very basic ostomy vocabulary.
The time before leaving the hospital after surgery is the perfect time to opt between one-piece and two-piece ostomy system.
You can learn about the ways to change your ostomy pouch without any help.
If you have any problem managing your ostomy without any help, you will have to decide about how you are going to get help.
You will need to decide whether you will use a drainable or a close-end pouch.
If you are using a drainable pouch, you will need to learn the proper way to clean the pouch.
The skin around stoma is usually more susceptible to irritation and infection. Make sure that you have learnt the way to take care of that portion.
You will need to find the source from where you are going to get your ostomy supplies.
Get a schedule of the follow-up appointments.

Remember, managing your ostomy in a way that it doesn’t affect your daily routine hugely depends upon how well you know about it. Being a new ostomate will lead you thinking consistently about your ostomy. You will feel like you can never stop thinking about your ostomy. And you might think that everything that you are going to do is for your ostomy. But it is just a matter of time when you will start living your life normally. Remember, an ostomy doesn’t restrict you from anything that a healthy person does. It’s all about how well you manage your ostomy.

What’s Exactly an Ostomy Wafer or Barrier?

Ostomy wafer and ostomy barrier are two names of the same thing. This barrier is basically a part of ostomy pouch system that goes against the skin and fits around the stoma. Other names of this barrier are flange, wafer, device, and appliance. This barrier sticks to the skin around the stoma with the help of an adhesive. The skin around the stoma is known as "peristomal skin". The main purpose of this barrier is to protect the part of the skin it is attached to from stomal output. And by doing so, it acts like a connector between the ostomy pouch and your body.

A two-piece ostomy system uses water and pouch as two separate pieces. If you choose this system, you will have to pay attention to getting the pouch that is compatible to the barrier or wafer attached with your peristomal skin. And technically, an ostomy flange is basically a plastic device to which a pouch is attached.

It may be worth mentioning the types of ostomy wafers or barriers.

Pre-Cut Ostomy Barriers

These barriers come in standard sizes, meaning that they can be taken out from the box and used without doing anything like cutting or shaping. These barriers are ideal if your stoma fit the size and it is evenly round in shape. But you will want to avoid using this barrier with the new ostomy even if it is in perfectly round shape. The reason is that an ostomy tends to change its shape with the passage of time soon after it is created. The shape keeps changing until the swelling is stopped and the size of stoma is settled.

Cut-to-fit barriers

These barriers are designed to meet different ostomy size requirements. There are printed lines that serve as a guide for cutting the barrier according to the size of ostomy. You can cut this barrier to any shape depending upon the shape of your stoma. The best way is to cut them ahead of time in order to find them immediately usable at the time of need. You can cut a few barriers and put them in the ostomy kit that you keep with you.

Moldable Wafers

The other types of wafers are more conventional as compared to moldable wafers which are surely one of the new technologies being used for ostomy management. Moldable wafers are much like cut-to-fit wafers from certain perspectives. But the factor that gives moldable wafers an added edge over other types is that the moldable wafers are stoma safe. The best thing about this type of wafer is that it goes against the stoma without causing any damage. You can roll and shape the wafer around the stoma with the help of your fingers. Thus, you will not need any scissors during the procedure. This process of molding is known as ‘turtle necking’, and its main purpose is to ensure snug fitting of the wafer around the stoma.

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