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What is Stoma Paste?

Stoma paste is often used to fill in gaps and unevenness around the stoma, which can help to get a more reliable seal with your wafer.

It’s important to look at stoma paste as a caulking,  not an adhesive.

How Stoma Paste is Usually Sold

Stoma pastes come in either a squeezable tube (much like a tube of toothpaste ) or strips that are closer to plasticine.

Tubes are often sold individually, but strip paste is usually sold in boxes of 10.

In Canada a 2oz tube of stoma paste can sell for about $12 retails (June 2017); a box of strip paste is usually sold for around $24.

Purchase on Amazon

You can purchase stoma paste on Amazon (affiliate links): USA | CANADA

How to Use Stoma Paste

You can apply stoma paste or paste strips either to your wafer or around your stoma.

In some cases, you would allow the paste to dry for a few minutes before putting on your wafer, but this depends on the manufacture; strip pastes don’t usually require any additional time to dry, since they are more solid to begin with.

Because the application of pastes can vary depending on the brand used, check the instructions that came with your product before applying paste.

Removing paste can be a challenge, but you can either use warm water and a cloth/gauze pad, or adhesive remover wipes. You don’t have to worry about getting every last bit of it off your skin, and scrubbing too hard will irritate the skin near your stoma.

Tips For Using Stoma Paste

• Don’t apply too much paste. It can get messy if you over apply paste.
• Pastes in tubes often contain alcohol, which can burn sensitive skin; strip pastes usually don’t.
• Don’t use paste unless you have a reason to, since it could negatively affect the wear time of your wafer.
• If you notice a gap after applying your wafer, between your stoma and the cutout in the wafer, you can fill in that gap for added protection (I’ve used this technique with success for up to 3 days).

Is Stoma Paste Vegan-Friendly?

Gelatin is a common ingredient found in stoma paste, but you can find it without animal products (Nu-Hope Laboratories Inc. has at least one option).  

You can find a list of other stoma paste and strip paste products which are/are not vegan HERE.