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How To Change An Ostomy Appliance

By Arline Bradley


You might have recently had an ostomy. If you had this, you would have to wear an appliance for this at all times. There are times where one would find it really frustrating. There would be times that it would feel really itchy.

In this article, you would be guided on what to do. You will be guided on the steps on how to change your ostomy appliance. Doing this will also help maintain the skin around your stoma healthy.

Before you start, you must have all of the materials you will be needing ready. One needs to prepare clean water, some gauze strips and paper towels. You also have to prepare a new bag. It should already be pre cut. One has to have to old one disposed so it would be better to have all necessary things ready.

Remove the shirt you are wearing. You have to place the paper towel in between your skin and underwear. It would make changing your bag in a much clean way. It will help avoid the dirt from being on the underwear and skin as you change.

Hold your skin down using one hand to remove the old piece. Pull that bag away so the stoma will be uncovered completely. Throw it away on the trash bin. See to it that you have a trash bin whenever you are changing so it would just be one reach away to throw old bags away. It would be good if you can shave the hair around that. It helps making the bag stick much better. You will feel less pain as you peal that away too.

Soak the gauze strips in the water and wipe the skin. Pay attention to the ones which surrounds it. Wipe the stoma until it is clean. Dry it with using the paper towel. It is best to use that one since it can absorb well. It also does not stick to the skin.

You could use a lotion recommended for it. It would help lessen the sore. But, it would hinder the appliance from sticking well. Place the new one. Make sure it would stick well. You can use your palms to make sure of that.

It would be better if you will be changing it in the morning. This is the time that the stoma is the smallest although it is still active. Most people who have it do that as well. The number of times you are going to be changing your appliance will depend on your supply and its behavior. There would be circumstances that you could just do that every other day. There would also be circumstances that it should be done every day. If you think that is not budget friendly just have that done every morning.

A person could contact his doctor to help him in taking care of that. His doctor can suggest the best type of appliance for him. A doctor could also suggest stuff that will help to lessen pain when changing. Before doing all of those steps, see to it that your hands are clean. By making sure of that, you could avoid some infections.




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