Stoma Cover

Stoma cover

        There are not many things to be said about a stoma cover, since it does not have a very complicated or delicate role. Basically, the stoma cover is meant for one purpose and one only: to protect the stoma. Several factors intervene in the choice of stoma cover, choice made both by the patient and the attending physician.

       On the one hand, there is the fact that, if the patient is overweight, the stoma cover must be elastic. Why elastic, you might wonder? Well, the answer is pretty simple: if the stoma cover is not elastic, it cannot move around with all the extra fatty tissue that the patient possesses. However, if it is elastic, it not only molds itself to the not - exactly - stoma - friendly environment surrounding it, it also allows the patient to loose weight without having to worry about loosing the stoma cover and exposing their stoma.

       On the other hand, the sufferers' job must be taken into consideration when choosing the stoma cover: if the patient is a construction worker, for example, the stoma cover must be made of a material that allows for rough handling. Not that it is indicated for a stoma patient to actually work on a construction site, but these things must be taken into consideration.

       In the first years of stoma surgery, the stoma cover was not waterproof. This meant that the patient had to remove it every time he or she bathed or to wash with a sponge for the rest of their life. Of course, neither option is actually to be desired, but people made it work for over three decades. Then, at the beginning of the nineties, a German physician had the brilliant idea of making the stoma cover waterproof. After that, the sky became the limit. Not only do stoma covers today come in multiple shapes, sizes and colors, but some of them even have perfume.

       Yes, that is right. Perfume. The reason for this particular choice is obvious: the wastes that are eliminated rarely smell nice. Therefore, to avoid any sort of embarrassment due to the smell of the wastes, producers have incorporated a sort of perfume into the material of the stoma cover. Now, do not go on imagining that it is some expensive brand. No, it is simply a perfume that neutralizes the natural body odor. Thus, you are not supposed to smell like roses. You are simply not supposed to smell at all.

       Another thing that should be accounted for when a stoma cover is chosen is the cost. Usually, most patients have these things covered by their health insurance, but not everyone has one or the stoma cover they want is not in the medical plan. Therefore, while one stoma cover does not cost a fortune, the quantity of covers that are used in one year is rather large and could pose a true problem. These stoma covers range in price from nineteen euros to two hundred euros per cover. That is not exactly accessible for the general population.

       You might want to know what could damage your stoma cover before you go out and buy the most expensive pack you find. For one, you must not make any sort of sudden movements. This limits your physical therapy to the exercises that the physician prescribes you and only those. Try to avoid jumping, running, escalating or lifting heavy weights. Also, if you have small children that you tend to carry around in your arms, do not do that anymore. Children are known for destroying more than one stoma cover due to their inability of sitting still.

       Another thing that you must be made aware of is the process through which your stoma cover is changed: do not change it too often or using brusque movements. You might damage the stoma or rupture the inner pouch. Neither would result in wanted consequences.