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Gas can be a significant problem if you have a colostomy. The gas can accumulate in your colostomy bag without you wanting it. This accumulation can result in the pouch’s inflation, which can cause leakage.

It may be worth mentioning that a colostomy is not a reason for gas. If you had the gas problem before surgery, you are going to have it after surgery, too. The good news is that you can control it conveniently.

Pay attention to your diet

The amount of gas produced in your GI tract depends almost entirely on what you eat. It means that you may have to avoid or limit foods that produce gas. Those foods may include:

Cabbage
Beans
Onions
Fish
Garlic
Dairy products
Brussels sprouts

Limiting carbonated drinks is also a good way to prevent gas. You should also completely quit alcohol as it can damage your intestinal tract.

It is pertinent to this discussion that you will not need to avoid all gas-producing foods entirely. Many of these foods are good sources of healthy nutrition that your body needs. You only have to eat them in moderation to avoid having excessive gas. You may also want to eat parsley and yogurt because these foods are known to prevent gas. You can consider having over-the-counter medication to prevent gas, but it’s a good practice to talk about it with your doctor first.n

Avoid swallowing air

Some activities might contribute to excessive gas without you realizing that you engage in those activities. These activities include:

Sucking or hard candies
Chewing gum
Eating with your mouth open
Smoking
Eating too quickly
Drinking through a straw

All these activities cause you to swallow air, which can result in the production of gas in your GI tract. At first, it may be hard to limit such activities, but you will get used to a healthy routine over time. Having an ileostomy or colostomy requires a person to adapt to a different lifestyle. Fortunately, ostomy care nurses and doctors are there to help you through this transition.

Surgical option to prevent gas

Another quite effective way to prevent gas is to have a continent pouch. This internal pouch, which consists of tissues from the large and small intestine, will store your waste materials. A valve, usually made of tissues from the ileum, will connect the pouch to the outside of the body. This self-sealing valve prevents gas and stool from leaking out, giving the patient complete control over when to pass out wastes. You are going to have to use a catheter to draw wastes out.

This continent pouch can be either a Kock pouch or a BCIR, which is an advanced form of the Kock pouch. The Kock pouch has the risk of leakage and other problems, but a BCIR is a nearly perfect solution if you want peace of mind with your ileostomy. These solutions are ideal for individuals who do not want to get into a routine of having to manage an ileostomy pouch for a significant part of the day.

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