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Ostomy Belts - Finally clued in....

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Posted 6/14/2013 12:24 PM (GMT 0)
I have read on here about those that use the ostomy belts (thin ones that attach to the wafer).  I have never used one, in fact I have two in my supply case that I hadn't even opened......I never thought I needed to use them as Lily stick out ALOT.

As you may remember, I was having problems with my loop and the mucus breaking down the bottom part of my wafer.  So yesterday after my change, I decided to crack open one of the belts to see if it would help.  Well I wore it all day yesterday and am wearing it today. I don't know if its just that little bit of pressure or what but it seems to help......no deterioration this morning on the bottom part of the wafer.

So will try and wear it this weekend until I do my change on Sunday and see if I notice a difference.

I actually had no idea what the little hook things were for on the sides of the wafer until now......geeeesshhhh..... smhair

Posted 6/14/2013 3:34 PM (GMT 0)
My husband has used them from the very start and feels the added pressure does indeed help. He got used to it with no problem. He uses wafers with light convexity.
Posted 6/14/2013 3:38 PM (GMT 0)
Yeah, the belt is one of those things that I hate to admit works... I've worn it through two changes so far and although I've never really had skin issues, my skin looks EVEN better with the belt. Like flawless, non-peristomal skin. I don't particularly feel it while I'm wearing it and I don't wear it all that tightly either. My main issue with the belt is that I have wide hips relative to the size of my waist, so it tends to "ride up" and get loose around my waist instead of sitting on my hips. I have to adjust it a few times per day (usually just when I get undressed to empty), but even with that it works pretty nicely.
Posted 6/14/2013 9:31 PM (GMT 0)
I'm not a huge fan of wearing mine all of the time, but they are effective. I've noticed that my appliance will sometimes "slip" down my stoma a bit. It doesn't affect the seal, but it seems that the top part starts to fall further down onto my stoma. I don't know if it disconnects from the peristomal skin some or what. I just notice a ring indentation on the stoma when I don't wear the belt. I've tried wearing it just one day (change day) and then again when I do bouncy exercises. We'll see.

One thing that's interesting, if you pull the belt too tight it can actually cause skin irritation under the flange that leads to peristomal pyoderma gangrenosum in susceptible individuals (aka 0.6% of stoma patients). Most people don't need to worry about it.
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