Hello @chelly!

I was going to respond to your wipes post to say that I rinse so I just use a dry paper towel around the opening of the pouch. I have always rinsed and it does not affect the duration of my seal. I use a sprayer attachment on my toilet so it is the temp of the toilet water which is cool. I feel cleaner and also it keeps the odor down for me. I add M-9 and lubricant drops after rinsing. All the best to you!

joanne

Chilly... I have been rinsing my pouch since I was home from hospital with my shiney "Rose" bud of a stoma going on 14 years now.   I feel it has "never affected" my wear time even with rings which I no longer use. 

I use warm  & cool water depending on what needs rinsing out of my pouch.  I feel Warm softens pancaking better then cool. The stoma is your intestine & its used to output so I don't worry too much about whats left on it after rinsing.   I rinse because I feel its fresher afterwards & it certainly makes cleaning the mouth of the pouch easier.   I wrap folded together  squares of tissue around my index finger & do a swipe up to each side of the outside of the mouth & then go in starting at one side & the start side I rub up  & down a time of two to get all left in the crease & then swoop across to the next & into the toilet the TP goes.  This method saves a lot of TP verses making several corks to do the same job. 

 Think of it this way... you wouldnt change a babies poopy bottom  & not wipe its skin clean, baby would only stink as much afterwards. Butt... your stoma is sealed inside the pouch, babies bottom is not.  

I hope this is helpful to you 😎 ! 

Posted by: @chelly

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For those of you that rinse, do you use warm or cold water? Also do you feel that rinsing is better than having output around the stoma? Do you feel that rinsing ruins the seal around the stoma? 

1. I leave a bottle of water on my window sill, so "room temperature", but if I'm filling it with water to use right away then I go with warm water. With cold water, my stoma tends to shrink a little, and that can cause a leak.
2. I much prefer to rinse when my output is a peanut butter consistency, since leaving it without rinsing just makes it feel like it's not empty enough.
3. It shouldn't. Water is not nearly as aggressive as our output. But if you are using a regular wear wafer (instead of an extended wear one), then it will not handle liquid as well, so there could be a problem there.

When I rinse, I only really try to get the bottom half of the bag wet, to allow the output to slide out. I very rarely rinse the entire bag, and prefer to simply "squeegee" as much output to the lower half as I can before rinsing.

Good morning,

Been rinsing since my surgery with no issues.  

I have a 16 oz sports drink bottle on the bathroom counter and fill it after every use with warm tap water that comes out of the tap anywhere from cold to warm.

I pour the water in the bottom opening, roll the opening back down to close it, hold it closed and swoosh the water around the entire bag.  Usually do this twice as I like the bag to be really clean.  After the rinsing I dry the roll up part of bag with tissue and put in a little of the lubricant / deodorizer. 

Mostly use non filtered bags but do the same with filter bags.  I have not had issues with rinsing impacting the seal between the barrier and body using the Coloplast protective rings with the Coloplast one click barrier and change my bag every 4 days or so.

What I like about rinsing well with water is being able to look at the stoma and protective ring to see how it looks.

have a good day.

cygo

GM 

I kinda mix it up while rinsing mostly just getting the bulk of output at the bottom half of the bag. But if needed I'll squish the water around my stoma a bit . I feel cleaner when rinsing although occasionally there's not a choice .

@dlkfiretruck that is kind of what a stoma nurse told me sort of once she said just wipe with toilet paper. She says we wipe our butts that way. For some reason I always worry about people smelling it from the end even though wiped and closed. Another nurse told me she had a stoma once and that she used wipes. But she had the same reason as me. I do like the cleanliness feeling of using a wipe but they loosen my seal unless I get the exact right wipes. I recently learned that they now sell dry wipes that I could wet with water. I may try those out but they are expensive.

@veganostomy mine seems to almost always be peanut butter consistency. Once in a while it gets watery. I like you keep a bottle in the bathroom. I usually just clean a Diet Coke plastic bottle to keep there.

@cygo do you find that having the lubricating deodorant in your pouch causes breakdown of the seal? I tried using those because I’m a chronic pancaker but I found that after my first rinse out the oiliness from the deodorant caused a little breakdown of my seal around my stoma and gets itchy and irritated. so I had to switch to m9. Or do you have any tricks or tips to avoid that happening with the lubricant deodorant and rinsing?

@chelly 

Hi,

There is some break down but I do not normally get itching.  Occasionally I do but usually only if I was sloppy putting on my barrier or wait too long to change it.  once I change the barrier all is fine again.

I have attached a photo of what the protective seal looks like after a hot shower on day three, I shower with the bag off. I will wear this barrier for another day or day and a half.  (I typically change in the AM)

Hope this helps / gives insights / ideas to find your own best solutions.

Have a great day.

cygo

@cygo that is about how mine looks without using a lubricating deodorant so yes, it looks as if it does  not affect your seal.  Maybe my itching could be from a fragrance skin allergy I’m thinking. It’s been a while since I’ve tried it but Coloplast sent me samples again so I’m going to give it another go to see what happens. I’ve also been able to eliminate ring usage with this new pouch. No longer need them but keeping them in hand cuz ya never know in this Ostomy world we live in. 
thanks so much for taking the time to post a pic. Much appreciated.

@chelly  ...when I use the lubricating deodorant I use it with M9 rubbing the sides to mix it well,   just my preference.  I try & bring it up in the pouch just moving it there between the plastics in a V form starting at the sides then below my stoma all an inch away from my stoma.   I started doing this hoping the pancaking would be enough to draw the sides down with the output it.  I think it works fairly well but I have to make sure my pouch doesn't wiggle around a whole lot & to not wear too tight clothing that day.  I also have used first aide  I apply the tape right across the pouch near the top above my stoma & onto my tummy by 6 inches each side to help prevent the pouch moving down dragging lube with it. 

Itching is my 1st sign of a pending leak. Sometimes I can get another day if I slowly & gently rub from on top the plastic from the outside edge towards my stoma as though there is output under it, moving it out from under the wafer, if theres input, I change it asap if not I bide my time carefully. 

The joy of a clear pouch, same reasons you have a clear one & to see the edge of the wafer by the stoma towards the outside, swells a bit as the wearing days go by.  You've seen that swollen ring on your pouch when you change  it.  Well  I can usually get a 1/2 inch puffy edge or slight colour change seen thru my plastic of that swollen area on the wafer before I need to change my pouch. Thats my sign, any bigger I usually have a leak. This is also my thermometer of sorts to start paying attention to the more obvious symptoms of needing a pouch change.

Don't worry too much about what folks might smell. Get a dog instead! Lolol!  They have 100 times better sniff power when we do. I find the M9 keeps my dog Missy guessing about what the rattle is in my britches more then a possible odor, seriosly!  There are so many times I've had leaks my dog/s have picked it up before I have. 

I've recently changed pouches back to a charcoal "vent-less" ones, like what I was discharged with from hospital.   The charcoal vents just don't work well after 10 or so hours & tend to leak thru the paper topping on them. Since I found this site & learned about & started applying the Osto E-Z Vents.  Using discretion I can release built up air almost anyplace I please without having to be so darn careful or lay down to do it.  If you buy the "Osto E Z Vents" we can walk you through a much easier way to apply them then the instructions give. 

An interesting experience was with my neighbors visiting Son & his dog. Chatting late outside one night for a quick walk  & puppy pee trip,  Son & Dog, a big German Shepard were out as well.  Dog kept sniffing my tummy,    sitting in front of me & wouldn't leave me alone. His master had to keep calling him off. Once home, I checked for a leak & sure enough I had one just barely starting.  The kicker here, the next day the Sons Mom told me that same dog is a highly called upon Search & Rescue Dog trained in Cadaver recovery!!  UGH!!! LOL!  Poor thing, I must of been his worse nightmare & thought I was among the walking dead!!! Lol!  So, the next time I saw Son & Dog, I told Son he should be extremly proud of DOG &  I explained  about my ostomy & the leak.  He thanked me for telling him & we laughed about it. He was so thrilled his Dog was not misbehaving.  I thanked him for his service & told him that He & his Dog both deserved extra treats that day!! 

@dlkfiretruck gosh, thank you for the much detailed response. You are so helpful. Yes I can imagine that dogs would smell an ostomy bag leak. That story was funny. 
I use M9 as well. I found that safe n simple blue works just as well but they are revising their product production at the moment so I’m until they get all the bugs out with that situation. 

@chelly  ... Thankyou Chelly! I'm glad you found it helpful. I tend to get a little long winded but it never looks as long as it does until the reply has posted! I have learned ways to edit but Eric is very patient with me while "still" learning!  Sorry Eric, I do try! Lolol. 

Is it the M9 the company is changing??  If so, that should be interesting !! 

I'm glad you enjoyed the Son & Dog story. It was a strange but funny situation & I had a hunch that Dog had picked up on my Ostomy, but I had no clue a small leak had started or what Dogs training had exactly been about ! So, how could I not tell Son that Dog was doing exactly what he had been trained to do! Lol! 

@dlkfiretruck no it’s not the M9 that’s changing. It’s the Safe n Simple brand. I don’t know if they are changing ingredients, I don’t think but they did tell me they had trouble with the people that are making it for them and they are getting someone else. at least they are looking out for us. I do like how their products works for odor and at a better price. 

as for dogs, they can sniff out most things. I’ve read somewhere that they can even detect cancer in their owners. 

@chelly  ... Yes! Everyone should have the benefit of a cancer sniffing dog! Wouldn't that be great to have it detected early!!