Ostomy & Colostomy Accessories - Stoma Caps, Belts, Pouch Covers

Some styles of ostomy bags are more visible than others. This fact presents a problem for many ostomy bag wearers. However, you can divert public attention away from your stoma by wearing patterned shirts, tops, skirts, and pants. As a result, your most effective clothing decisions depend on whether your stoma placement is below or above your belt line. If your stoma is above your belt, camouflaging it with tops is best. And you can hide stomas below your belt with patterned bottoms. Also, darker-colored clothes conceal bags better than lighter-colored clothes.

When the pouch is below the beltline, men can wear pants with a high crotch line and suspenders instead of tight belts to reduce pouch visibility. Women can wear light lycra pants to support the ostomy bag and press it close to the skin to add concealment. In addition, both sexes can more effectively conceal the pouch by wearing multiple layers of clothing.

The most important ostomy accessories include ostomy belts, clamps, protective skin sprays, rings, deodorants, ostomy pouch covers, and ostomy irrigation supplies. Also, you'll need ostomy adhesive, skin barrier spray, and adhesive remover.

After you pay the deductible, the Part B Medicare plan pays 80% of the approved charges for ostomy supplies. However, providers and suppliers must participate and accept Medicare assignments.

Before you leave the hospital following your stoma surgery, your healthcare provider will give you some stoma bags, supplies, and a prescription for more. You can use the prescription to set up an account with your retail supplier to expedite your orders.

Allegro Medical has an impressive inventory of ostomy supplies, including ostomy care accessories like Skin-Prep Protective Barrier Wipes, Aloe Vesta Perineal Skin Cleanser, Aloe Vesta 3-n-1 Protective Ointment, room deodorizers, and ostomy appliance cleaners. In addition, Allegro Medical offers several categories of medical and orthopedic supplies like colostomy accessories.

Taking care of your stoma and peristomal skin is vital to your health and well-being. So, attention to detail is essential. Your peristomal skin is the skin surrounding the stoma that the barrier covers. Therefore, it should be whole and intact. Since your body waste may contact your peristomal skin, there is a constant threat of skin problems. This possibility is why you should closely examine your skin during barrier changes. If you spot any redness, chafing, or irritation, you should thoroughly clean and dry your skin. Then, apply skin-protective barrier cream or stoma powder. Also, do regular checks to ensure the size of the stoma opening in the skin barrier doesn't exceed one-fourth inch of skin after applying the barrier. Stomas may bleed slightly during a barrier change. But it's a normal occurrence.

A urostomy is an ostomy procedure that enables urine to exit the body. Sometimes, diseases or other health problems prevent some people from passing urine through the normal urinary tract, consisting of the ureters, bladder, and urethra. During a urostomy, surgeons use a small section of a surgically repurposed intestine to re-route urine flow from the ureters to an opening in the abdominal wall. At that point, the urine drains into the urostomy bag.

An ileostomy is an ostomy procedure that expels solid waste from the body. Normally, the food leaves the stomach and travels through the lower gastrointestinal tract, including the small intestine, large intestine, anus, and rectum. Instead, an ileostomy passes the stool through a stoma created from a portion of the small intestine. Surgeons perform ileostomies when the colon can no longer process waste or after they extract it due to disease, injury, cancer, or irritable bowel disease. Since the large intestine removes most of the water from the waste, the stool tends to be watery when it flows into the ileostomy bag.