So I absolutely despise the term accessory when it comes to ostomy products, because it sounds as if they are items you don;t always need. Yet to some people certain items become essential to having a good seal or be the difference between their skin being health or sore.
On Twitter recently a company tweeted about items being called dependable’s and I just shouted YES (internally of course because no-one else would understand in my house!) sadly I can’t remember the name of the company but when I find it I will update this post.
I think the items other than your appliance itself come under four categories and what falls in each category is different for each person because what the CCG’s and sometimes health care professionals forget is that we are all individuals. So what do I think the categories are?
- Essentials
- Dependable’s
- Non essentials
- Accessories
So the way I personally define each category is pretty simple really. Essentials are the items that you need every bag change. Dependable’s are the items that I can miss the odd change but ultimately I would prefer to have. Non essentials are things that I could go without and aren’t necessary. Which brings us on to accessories which are the items a good chunk of the ostomy companies tend to offer you even though it isn’t necessary to your change.
We all have things that fall into our own categories and not all of the categories even need items in them! For instance the way mine fall are:
- wedges
- stoma powder
- disposable bags
- dry wipes
- eye shaped wedge
- barrier wipe
- ostomy deodoriser oil
- adhesive remover
- gelling agents
- adhesive remover spray
- scented adhesive remover
- barrier spray
- antibacterial handwash
- wet wipes
There are probably hundreds of items people use and could fall under any of these sections but these are just things I use myself or have in my stoma stash box. If I have items in my box from when I was working out what works for me I try to use them up as and when just so I don’t have things accumulating unnecessarily!
Do you agree with my sections? Or do you think they should have other titles?
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