Hey guys it's Eric.
Today I want to talk to you about a problem that I'm very familiar with, and that is
ostomy appliance leaks!
Now, leaks can be no fun. I mean honestly, who wants to wake up to a messy, wet warm
mess! It's especially embarrassing when you're in public and you have a leak, or if you're
doing something that you really enjoy doing - like the theme park in my case.
But you absolutely don't want to have a leak.
For the most part, leaks are caused by one or more specific things, and they tend to
be things that you have a lot of control over.
So I'm going to go over some of the most common causes of leaks, and hope that I give you some
ideas on finding the solution for yours.
So I think that the most important thing is to make sure that you're getting a proper
appliance fit.
For some people that might mean re-evaluating how the wafer is cut, and whether a wafer
is being cut too big or small will impact the likelihood of you having a leak.
The second thing that's pretty common - more common than you would think - is the improper
use of supplies.
If, for example, you are using stoma powder, you don't want to be putting it all over like
you're in a blizzard! You just want to put a little bit, and then follow it up with some
barrier product like a spray or barrier wipe. That will give your appliance a better substrate
to stick onto.
If you're just dumping powder on, and you're using too much of it, your appliance isn't
going to be able to stick properly, and that'll definitely cause leaks for you.
So, if you're overusing supplies, cut back on those; if you're using supplies that you
don't need, just completely eliminate them from your workflow.
You really don't have to use much more than a bare wafer, unless you have problems that
your ET nurse has told you about.
For some ostomates, a flush or retracted stoma is going to cause leaks. The reason for that
is because stool and output ends up channeling underneath the wafer, when in fact it should
be falling down to the bottom of the pouch.
The most common remedy for this is to use a convex wafer. Convex wafers are curved in
a way that applies gentle pressure around your stoma, which helps to push your stoma
out just a little bit. And that tends to solve a lot of leak problems for people who have
flush or retracted stomas.
Now, for some of us, we may have to augment our wafer with a few other products.
The most common product used to help prevent leaks are barrier rings. There are other product
out there, like stoma collars, which may also help to prevent leaks. And they do that by
creating an extra barrier around your stoma that really makes it difficult for any kind
of liquid or stool to get underneath your wafer.
So you might want to try something like that out if you're having a problem with leaks.
And I would say that if you're having problems specifically because of liquid output, that'll
definitely be something that you'll want to try.
And speaking of liquid output, I do want to mention gelling products.
Now they typically come in sachets, and sometimes they come in tablets or capsules. And they're
meant to be put inside your pouch every time you empty it, and what they do is they'll
solidify your liquid output as your pouch fills.
The really nice thing about that is if you're having leaks because of liquid output, that
should help to eliminate that problem right from the get go.
And it also makes you pouch a little easier to empty if you find that emptying a bag full
of liquid output is a little more of a challenge for you.
Now, another thing that happens to me a lot is that I allow my pouch to fill up way too
much.
Generally speaking, you'll want to empty your pouch when it's about 1/3 full or less.
If you let your pouch get too heavy, what tends to happen is that it will start to tug
at your wafer and that will separate it a little from your skin, which makes it easy
for any kind of stool our liquid to get underneath that wafer and really start to create problems
with leaks. So you do want to avoid that.
Try using a support belt, support garment, an accessory belt - anything like that will
help to keep your pouch more secure. But really, you should be emptying your pouch more often
if that's something you tend to do.
Now for me, most of my leaks happen at night, and they generally happen for a few reasons.
The first reason is pouch ballooning, and that's when your pouch gets so full of gas
that it basically looks like you're wearing a balloon on your side.
What happens with ballooning is that it creates a lot of pressure there, and really the weakest
link in your whole appliance system is going to be that spot between your stoma and your
wafer.
Once you've got a very pressurized pouch, that's really the first place that gas is
going to try to escape from.
So for me I try to first tackle the problem with ballooning, and you want to get to a
point where gas isn't building up so much in your pouch that it's creating these problems.
For some people that I know, they'll set alarms at night, maybe once or twice a night. And
that will remind them to empty their pouch, maybe get rid of some excess gas in there,
and maybe they'll avoid the issue of ballooning causing leaks.
For some people, "pancaking" is another issue. Now, I do have a video on pancaking and how
to tackle that problem.
But for those of you who don't know what "pancaking is", it's a term that we use when your output
is kind of stuck at the top of your appliance and it has nowhere to go because it's not
falling down.
So what happens with pancaking is that it will create pressure that pulls on your appliance
and basically pulls it off, which introduces more opportunities for leaks.
So if pancaking is an issue, I would ask you to check out my other video on pancacking.
I also have an article that you might want to read, and that will give you some tips
on how to avoid pancaking and make your life a little easier.
There are many other reasons why you might have leaks, and I do have more of those written
down in an article (I'll include a link below for it).
But I've given you some of the more common reasons why leaks happen.
Do you have any tips that you'd like to add? If so, please add them to the comments below.
And don't forget to like, subscribe if you haven't, and share this information if you
think that someone else might be able to benefit.
Thanks for watching this video, guys! I'll see you in the next one! Take care!