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Introduction:  Living with a stoma can be a life-changing experience, and finding the right support wear is crucial for comfort, confidence, and overall well-being. Whether you have a colostomy, ileostomy, or urostomy, selecting the optimal stoma support wear can significantly enhance your quality of life. In this blog, we will explore the key factors to consider when choosing stoma support wear, along with example case studies that illustrate the benefits it can provide. Understanding Stoma Support Wear: Stoma support wear refers to specialized undergarments and accessories designed to support and protect the stoma, while also providing comfort and discretion. The right support wear can help prevent leakage, reduce the risk of skin irritation, reduce the risk of developing a hernia...

Winter brings about many changes, some welcome, some not so much. I love nothing more than lighting every candle in the house, my twinkly tree on, the dark nights and watching GoggleBox on the telly under a throw with the family. But what does it mean for us ostomates? As we all know, we are all so different in the reason why we got a ticket to the club, and what impact that has on our wider health. For some the arrival of Winter may not change that much, for others it can present the need to adapt and tweak a few different things. 

Tomorrow (Saturday 2nd October) is World Ostomy Day. This post, I thought I'd share with you some stoma facts (thanks to many great resources & my experience). What better time to share some facts than around World Ostomy Day?!

  What are lectins? Lectins are a type of protein found in many foods, but which are difficult to digest. One of the Lectins most people have heard of is Gluten. They are a kind of built-in defence system for plants to make themselves less appetising to animals that might eat them. Also, their seeds (due to the lectins in them making them indigestible) can pass through the animal or birds digestive tract unaffected, so the animal/bird can become a good means of dispersing the seeds far and wide. Some would term lectins as an “anti-nutrient” due to the attention they have received through popular media citing lectins as the cause of obesity, chronic inflammation, GI problems, leaky gut syndrome,...

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) & Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) are two different conditions and it is vital that the right diagnosis is made in order to have the best chance of managing and treating either condition.

Having a stoma comes with its own ups and downs. Many of us have different experiences however I can imagine most of us experience the same problem with having a stoma – the horrible red, itchy and/or sore skin around the stoma (known as Peristomal Skin) Peristomal skin problems are usually very common however these are not normal, but the good news is that these can be resolved. As the saying goes, prevention is better than the cure, but if you notice any bumps, discolouration, red or purple patches in the peristomal area and you skin is sore, itchy, or painful, then this may be a sign you have a peristomal skin problem. If you notice any of these symptoms,...

I have always been one of those people that adores the great outdoors but not so fond of just sitting about in the garden I need to be doing something outside. Due to my multiple chronic health conditions I always had some anxiety in the back of my head regarding solo treks; this year I decided to break that fear and go off by myself, don’t get me wrong having Kobe helps plus the odd friend who will join me on occasion too. Having an ileostomy certainly hasn’t stopped me from going off and enjoying myself.

On the 1st of October I went in for my lignocade infusion to help with multiple conditions I have that cause me chronic and total body pain. When I had originally got the appointment the hospital I would be receiving treatment; at had no covid patients and I was relieved. Then the week of the appointment the hospital had a t least 25 patients and the anxiety really started to set in. I have friends that work on wards in the sister hospital letting me know they were covid free if I could swap to that one. In reality I wouldn’t have been able to get Ra-Ra to school and Button to nursery then drive 20 miles to the hospital...

This post has an image of a naked stoma surrounded by output. I wouldn’t be doing my role as an advocate any good if I didn’t talk about leaks that stay contained. These happen to many ostomates and affect me probably the same as an “explosion” leak. Leaks either way they happen can be incredibly upsetting to the person experiencing it. The leaks that explode out from underneath the baseplate are ones you have to think fast before you need to wash more than just your clothes. The contained leaks are the slow burners as to speak. These ones are the ones that do the most damage to your skin. The ones that start with a sharp itch, but sometimes its...

Naked stoma in this post. Last week I spoke about some of the struggles I had been having with regards to my ileostomy and I try to talk about the good and the bad. Sometimes I hate my stoma. Actually scratch that I hate the things that make life with a stoma more difficult. Like hypermobile Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (hEDS) and eczema. – with the hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome my stoma has started to fall in on its self; which is easier to deal with than a prolapse or at least I think so. But it allows leaks to happen as there is now a gap between my skin and the bag.– the eczema often ends up in me scratching my bag off....