Cleaning the Colostomy,

Ileostomy & Urostomy Stoma

 By: ColostomyCentral Staff

This guide will further supplement the information and instructions on the previous pages about Ostomy Wound Care. As you may know already, cleaning around the stoma is no easy task especially for beginners. As a matter of fact, some consider this as a "necessary inconvenience", much like washing your car. Have you ever wished to have a car that cleans itself?

This Ostomy Care Guide is simplified enough for everyone to get a good grasp on colostomy care.

 What materials are needed to clean the area surrounding the Stoma?

The very basic tool that you are going to need is warm water and some clean wash cloth or some would prefer to use a paper towels. If you prefer a papaer towel, make sure this is durable enough. Some paper towels leave out nits and tiny pieces that stick to the stoma making it itchy or worse, may even irritate your skin.

Essential Ostomy Supplies:

Gloves - Your gloves arent really necessary for your colostomy care. Personally, I think gloves can be a bit obtrusive in maneuvering your ostomy supplies. In addition, they will add unnecessary cost to your colostomy care. This is true for normal, uncomplicated type of ostomies. However, if you have other condition that might warrant an extra care in preventing infections, you might as well use a pair. After all, it never hurts to be sure.

Soap - You will need soap to cleanse the stoma if it is visibly soiled. Remember to use mild soap and look at the ingredients used to make the soap, make sure youre not allergic to any of them.

Colostomy Creams - They are beneficial in making sure the area around your stoma doesnt turn out to be irritated. Use only recommended creams and never use ordinary lotions.

Non-essential Materials:

Alcohol - Alcohols cause skin drying. Some alcohols also contain skin irritants and your ET nurse will advise you that its never a good sign of proper colostomy care if you have one.

Moistened wipes, baby wipes with lanolin - These materials cause the j pouch to be loosened quite early. If you ever decide to use one, make sure it doesnt have lanolin or other oils associated with it. Again, check the label.

That's it folks! Hope this article is about colostomy care and we hope this article made a difference. Stick around for more useful information to finally manage your ostomy.