Swimming with a stoma?

Triathlon Forum
1

Help me slowtwitch…

I’ve searched the forum, but can’t find any recent info (semicolon.org seems to be long gone).

My uncle has a stoma and would love to be able to swim again. The problem he’s having is that he can’t figure out how to achieve a waterproof seal around his stoma, which means he needs a new wafer every time he goes in the water, at the cost of $16 (his finances are such that $16/swim is enough to stop him, unfortunately).

Any swimmers with ostomies out there? How do you seal things up?

Thanks for your help,
Alison

2

Seems like a 2x2 or 3x3 Tegaderm patch would do the trick, unless there was some issue with it sticking to the mucosa. What has he tried so far?

3

You can put a gauze patch over the stoma under the tegaderm, but I’ve never found tegaderm to be totally waterproof. Where is his ostomy? If it is an ileostomy, which is always producing liquid stool, I would think that a bag would still be necessary just for the sanitation of the pool. I would check with a doctor or medical supply company, really.

4

Do you know what wafer he is using? Have him try Convatec Durahesive Flexible wafers, the one you have to cut to size, NOT the moldable with hydrocolloid collar. Durahesive Flexible is a 2 piece system that, when used with an ostomy belt, offers a tight seal. It can be made convex with little plastic inserts.

I use Convatec Durahesive Flexible. Very low profile for a 2 piece, and under heavy summer sweating on the bike, it still lasts for up to a week, a little less if swimming, but definitely longer than one day. Stay away from the moldable wafers, the Durahesive ones with hydrocolloid collar. I went to a water park and in a few hours of intermittently wading through waist-high water, the adhesive “picture frame” collar had pulled completely away from the surface of my skin. No such problems with the cut-to fit plain Durahesive Flexibles, even at full submersion. What also helps is dabbing TP around the collar to wick water away after the swim, then drying it with a blow dryer til it’s bone dry.

Here’s something interesting if he wishes to do away with adhesives all together: Check out RCS company. I keep a Handi-ring around for emergency purposes. It works great, good seal if used correctly, but you have to adjust (tighten) the belt when you lay down. You need to use a belt with these:
http://www.rcscompany.com/rosie.html
http://www.rcscompany.com/ring.html

Good luck.