Hey guys, it's Eric. Today I want to talk to you about something that's been on the
mind of a lot of ostomates - and that is: pouch odor.
Now before I start giving some information on how to control odor, I just want to make it clear
that pouch odor should only be noticed when you're emptying your pouch or when you're
changing your appliance. If you notice it when you aren't doing any of those things,
chances are have a leak, or there's something else going on with your appliance.
Now, one of the easiest things that you can do to control pouch odor, and in my opinion
is one of the best things, is to use a pouch deodorant. Now, these products are generally
in liquid form and you just basically squirt a bit of it inside your pouch every time you
go to empty it.
Now, some of them do kill odor-causing bacteria, and others mask odors; they'll have scents
to them, and they'll have a fregrance that should technically mask the odor.
I would suggest you try a bunch of different samples, and see which one works best for
you. I've noticed that a lot of them work pretty well, and they'll pretty much cover
any of the odors that I'd normally find coming out of my ostomy pouch, but with some of them,
you actually have to use quite a bit of product in there, and it's not really desirable or
cost-effective to do that.
There is another option if you don't want to be putting anything inside of your pouch,
and that is to use either a room deodorizer or one that goes into your toilet.
I actually don't like the room deodorizors for a couple of different reasons. First of
all, they irritate me; they get all up in my nose, they make my eyes watery and itchy,
and I don't think that the smell of poop and floral fragrance is a very desireable thing.
So, Iike to tackle that problem in a different way.
Now I know that some people like to use in-toilet deodorants, and how they basically work is
that you squirt a bit inside your toilet water, and they create a bit of a film that's usually
oily, and that film helps to trap the odor inside the toilet. It also gives off a little
bit of a fregrance.
Now, a couple of these products are something called Poopourri, which you're probably familiar
with their commercials. Another is Just-A-Drop, and I'm sure there are a couple of different
other ones depending on where you live, but those are generally pretty easy to dispense.
Now, keep in mind that they won't tackle problems with the actual odor coming out of your pouch,
so they're not going to be as effective as a pouch deodorant that you'd put inside your
pouch.
Another really common way to tackle odor, is to keep an eye of the foods that you're
eating. I tend to hear about different foods causing different odors for certain people,
but it's really best that you keep a food diary and see what's triggering odor for you
specifically.
I find that some of the foods that are on these lists are pretty healthy for you.
For example, beans and onions. Those are foods that I try to include in my
diet because they are pretty good for you, and you wouldn't want to go around eliminating
healthy foods from your diet.
Another thing that I do want to point out is the fact that I do eat an entirely plant-based
(vegan) diet, and that gives me a bit of an edge. I know that a lot of the sulfer-producing
compounds that are found in animal products, primarily meat and eggs, tend to create quite
a bit more odor inside of your pouch and in your stool, and if that's something that you
can avoid (and I do recommend that you do!), you'll probably be doing yourself a huge favor
in eliminating most of that odor from even starting.
So I hope those tips help. I know that there are a couple of more that people use, but
these are the ones that I think are most important.
If you've got any tips that you'd like to share on how you control your pouch odor,
please let me know in the comments below.
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Thanks for watching, I'll see you again in the next video! Bye bye!