Getting Active with a Stoma

Getting active again after surgery is key to helping your recovery and beyond. Not only will it help physically, but mentally too. However, if you are returning to sport, it is important that you take things slowly to begin with and build up gradually.

Being active can been from walking the dog, or going into town to meet up with friends, or returning to competitive sport. Keeping active will help maintain a healthy weight, and if you take up core exercise classes such as Clinical Pilates, then you are better placed to prevent a parastomal hernia developing.

But it’s not just about getting active on your own, here at Ostomy Life we know how important it is to get out and meet others who’ve been through surgery. That’s why we’re planning events around the UK.

• Information Days
• Swimming with your ostomy
• Park Run meet ups
• Fundraising walks

If you’d like to Fundraise for Ostomy Life, please get in touch for a Fundraising pack.

 

In the Winter 2023 issue of StomaTips an article was published based on the research findings conducted by Ostomy Life.

Swimming against the fear of exercise

Caroline Bramwell share her advice on how ostomates can still enjoy swimming as a physical activity and the many misconceptions and concerns surrounding the activity.

Swimming is widely recognised for its numerous physical and mental health benefits. However, ostomates frequently experience apprehension regarding exercise, specifically wimming. Surprisingly, the discussion and recommendation of swimming as a potential recovery activity are often overlooked.

Earlier this year, I conducted a public survey to investigate how ostomates felt about swimming following surgery. The survey focused on their confidence levels or any they experienced while swimming with a stoma.

Whilst I had a general idea of what the results might show, the outcome was actually far more extreme than I’d expected.

A public survey was conducted, allowing ostomates to share their experiences regardin swimming both before and after surgery. The survey aimed to capture their concerns, recommendations received and overall sentiments related to swimming with a stoma.

Of the 68 respondents, the results were disheartening as the majority expressed significant or slight concerns about swimming with their stoma, despite having been able to swim prior to their surgery.

The ostomates described their feelings as  ‘worried’, ‘nervous’, ‘apprehensive’ and ‘unsettled’ when considering the idea of returning to the water.

As a competitive triathlete and swimmer, I only took up swimming after my surgery, and had the same initial concerns that cropped up in the survey, which were primarily:

• Stoma bag would come unstuck
• People would see the stoma bag
• Self-conscious

But I did not hesitate for long before mustering up the courage to visit my local swimming pool. I found that the bag stayed firmly attached without any issues. As an extra precaution, I decided to wear flange extenders to provide added protection against water seepage beneath the base plate. However, it should be noted that not all baseplates were suitable for swimming, as I encountered some limitations in this regard.

Here are my top tips:

1. Test your bag at home with a long soak in the bath
2. Try out different systems in the pool. Baseplates are typically made from hydrocolloid, which is designed to absorb moisture, however, in a pool this goes against it, as the edge could go a bit ‘gummy’. It didn’t cause an issue with the bag adherence, but if you want to feel secure in the water, perhaps try one made from a more ‘rubberised’ material
3. Use extenders; this is more for peace of mind, but having the flange extenders can stop water ingress. Again, try out different ones to find what suits you
4. Use the filter stickers – these are the little covers that come in your bag box; they prevent water getting in through the filter
5. Bag change – I don’t like the feel of a damp bag under my clothes after a swim, so I swapped to a two piece system, so I could easily unclip the wet bag, and clip on a fresh dry one after my swim
6. Find a quiet time to start getting back in the pool or take a friend along with you for moral support and general company. Swimming can be a very social activity.
7. For open water swimming, such as on the beach, I have a changing towel that I can slip on over my head. Then I can easily do a full bag change if necessary, and no-one would know

Overall, the best advice I could give is to take it a step at a time, and don’t worry. Bags in general will not come off, and we all have lumps and bumps, so no-one is likely to know you have a stoma unless you tell them. There’s plenty of choice in swimwear for ostomates these days that can disguise the bag.

The survey I conducted inquired whether healthcare professionals had recommended swimming as a form of exercise to their respondents’. The results revealed surprisingly negative responses across Stoma Care Nurses, Consultants and GPs.

70.6% said their Stoma Care Nurse had not recommend swimming as a form of exercise they could do.

79.4% said their Consultant had not recommend swimming as a form of exercise they could do.

85.3% said their GP had not recommend swimming as a form of exercise they could do.

Despite these statistics, for the respondents who do now swim, over 57.4% reported it had improved their lifestyle physically and 60.3% reported it had improved their mental health.

Swimming is widely acknowledged as a beneficial, low impact exercise for the body. Beyond its physical advantages, it has been shown to postively impact mental health by enhancing mood, boosting self-esteem, reducing the risk of depression, slowing dementia and cognitive decline, improving sleep and alleviating stress.