Ostomy

After surgery (colostomy, ileostomy or urostomy), the stoma swells, and the swelling goes down after a few weeks. Patients are usually taught by the care team how to care for the stoma properly and how to change the ostomy bag.

Besides the stoma, the skin around it also needs care. Some guidelines for caring for the skin around the stoma are:

Before attaching the bag, wash your skin with warm water and dry it well.
As far as possible, avoid skin care products that contain alcohol. These products can make the skin too dry.
Avoid using products that contain oil on the skin around the stoma. Doing so makes it hard to stick the bag to the skin.
Use special skin care products to reduce skin problems.
You can remove hair on your skin with scissors, an electric shaver or laser treatment.
If you use a razor and soap or shaving cream, be sure to wash your skin well after shaving the area.
Be careful not to injure the stoma when removing hair around it.