Dressing with an Ostomy

Clothes are pretty much essential for day to day life and they can change your appearance, make your feel more confident and can conceal all sorts of things! I am very open about my ostomy and will let people ask questions or even have a look depending on who they are. Yet I would rather not have it on show; now that is personal preference but also has a lot to do with how much I dislike my stomach and that goes back 20 years. People have often said that I hide my stoma well and they would never know that I had one until I mentioned it.

We all have different needs and find things comfortable with our stoma’s and in all honesty I actually think these change along with us. For instance when I first had my surgery I still wore my low waisted jeans but I put a waistband on and just go about my day. Then I started to gain weight with my pregnancy and since having Button I don’t really like wearing trousers unless they are high waisted and don’t run the risk of poking out of the top of my trousers.

So with that in mind I pretty much always wear leggings, skirts and dresses. It in a way has kind of become my uniform, I know that you can’t see the outline of my bag through my clothes and it also gives me a bit of confidence around when my bag starts to fill up. I feel comfortable in these types of clothes and every so often I like the idea of pushing my boundaries so maybe I will add a crop top into the mix.

I know many people that couldn’t care less about their bag being on show and have it hanging over the top of their jeans and maybe wear a bag cover to add some discretion. I have read in the groups online that it is pretty much 50/50 as to whether both males and females prefer tight or loose clothing,

If you haven’t had your surgery yet or have just recently had it and you are worried about how it is going to affect your clothing you really shouldn’t! It may take some time to find stuff you are comfortable in but ultimately it shouldn’t affect too much your fashion sense just remember your stoma should adapt to fit YOUR life not the other way around!