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Posted 2/8/2015 2:12 AM (GMT 0)
Has anyone have tips for showering on a regular schedule ? I have a ileostomy and only shower when I change that is every 5 or 6 days


Edited to add a subject line :)

Post Edited By Moderator (Shaz032) : 2/9/2015 5:05:00 AM (GMT-7)

Posted 2/8/2015 3:07 AM (GMT 0)
I shower usually every second day, wearing a Hollister 2-piece set-up. It hasn't affected wear at all, though occasionally the tape starts to loosen after the second or third shower. I also change every 5 or 6 days, and enjoy the naked shower that day. I usually soap up the bag material in the shower, find it stays fresher that way.

I did find that the tape and adhesive loosened early on when I was using some coloplast samples. Don't know if that was connected with the shower, but they only lasted 3 days each.

I've read that you shouldn't shower with just the wafer, and no bag, as water will work its way in under the opening and loosen the wafer. Seems to make sense, so I haven't tried that, though it would be nice to be able to really clean the inside of the coupling.

Ann
Posted 2/8/2015 3:47 AM (GMT 0)
I shower every day, and have done so as long as I've had my ileostomy. Once in a blue moon I shower twice a day. I exercise regularly, swim sometimes....none of it has ever effected the wear time of my wafer, which I change every 6-7 days. I don't do anything special to cover the bag or wafer when I shower.

I also take showers with no bag and just the wafer from time to time. Doing that never seemed to effect my wear time enough to notice either.
Posted 2/8/2015 6:35 PM (GMT 0)
Exactly the same as UCwhat. Shower everyday and sometimes I even have a bath at night if I am freezing cold! Never any issues with wafer time either. I change 6-7 days too.
Posted 2/8/2015 9:06 PM (GMT 0)
My skin would be in itchy ruins if I showered every day, so I shower every 2-3 days. Sometimes I change the bag after a shower, but not always. If I don't change it, then I make sure to dry it thoroughly with a hair dryer afterwards. It's a one-piece, so that includes the wafer as well.

To be honest, I couldn't imagine my wafer lasting through 6 showers; maybe it's something in the tapwater - too close to London, or whatever. Even a single shower seems to loosen it a bit, but not enough so I can't get the usual 3 days wear out of it. Unlike most people here, I change my bag once every 3 days. (It used to be two, but I mostly leave it an extra day now.)
Posted 2/9/2015 12:14 AM (GMT 0)
I echo ucwhat. The only thing I would add: do not allow having an Ostomy control your life. Shower and enjoy it.
If it will make you feel more confident try using a hair dryer to make sure your pouch and wafer are completely dry.
Posted 2/9/2015 1:22 AM (GMT 0)
I had a two piece. Tried one piece, but did have good luck with that & went back to two piece. I changed every other day. I found the right time of day for me was early morning before I had anything to eat or drink. I took a shower the morning I changed. I also took baths the days I didn't take a shower. The shower was absolutely the BEST! Being free of the pouch & feeling clean all over. I did not wash my stoma area with usual bath soap. I would gently rub across by belly with the Antiseptic skin cleanser, Hibiclens, which they used in the hospital. After bath used hair dryer on low.
Posted 2/9/2015 6:29 AM (GMT 0)
I took one every other day honestly. Yoga is good help with crohns, colitis, IBD and even death in some rare cases. Just make sure your harness is strapped good!
Posted 2/9/2015 6:47 PM (GMT 0)
I shower a minimum of once a day, and when I workout heavily I often shower twice a day. The showering has no discernable effect on my wear time. Well, I suspect if I was to shower every other say or so I could stretch changes to 6-7 days whereas i change about every 4-5 days, but I find my skin does great i.e. perfect with a 4 day change cycle. I use Hollister 2 piece and do not remove the pouch when I shower. I take extra long showers after I remove everyting on change days but on other showers I still shower as long as I like without issues. I normally just towel dry the wafer outer adhesive and the pouch, and somtimes give it a quick blast of blowdry as well if I want it bone dry, though it dries off on its own to bone dry quickly after a towel dabbing.
Posted 2/9/2015 7:46 PM (GMT 0)
I'm in the shower daily camp and also swim, use hot tubs and have regular baths and change wafer every 5-6 days. I use convatec two piece and only when I was in Spain on holiday in heatwave did I have problems with wafer not lasting long, think that was to do with being too hot and sweaty as no air con. I don't use a hairdryer afterwards and just towel dry. I'm in SW England and we have really hard water, so much limescale, all those chalk hills. Never had shower without bag as I have high output and can guarantee it would decide to gurgle just at wrong moment but use baby wipes when I change bag and find they keep skin perfect.
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