You may know by now that stoma’s off all types can come in different shapes and sizes due to the type of ostomy you have. But did you know that they can change shape too? Now I can only from experience talk about ileostomies (as that’s what I have) But yes they can in fact change shape!
Both of my stoma nurses have over the last three years have had differing opinions on the shape of my stoma because when my stomach is relaxed it was oval and when stretched it was round. To combat this I had been using an oval convex bag from Peak Medical but cutting the hole round.
Last week I had a routine appointment to see my stoma care nurses and people have said I have lost weight (I don’t see it but I will take it!) This time round my nurse said that both stretched and relaxed my ileostomy was more flush to the skin and definitely oval. So instead of having an awkward stoma it is now settled for now at least on being oval rather than doing its own thing.
If you have I’m going to describe it as a longer ostomy it can change slightly in length too depending on your size and even what you have eaten! When I say what you have eaten I mean it can lengthen if it is more active than normal or push out thicker output; even my flush to the skin ostomy does that from time to time.
The time to be concerned is if your ostomy completely retracts or becomes longer than usual but isn’t passing output this is known as a prolapse. As I am not a medical professional I would straight away say seek help if your are concerned but a few ostomates I know have prolapses and their advice if you are concerned AFTER getting professional help is to lay on your back and see if it goes back in. More often than not it will obviously stoma professionals will be able to offer more help and advice that is safe for you.
Has your ostomy changed shape rather than just size since it was formed?
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