Protecting your stomach muscles following stoma surgery
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At Home Hear from Susan, a community stoma care nurse.
After stoma surgery, or any other type of abdominal surgery you can be at risk of developing a hernia due to the weakness in the muscle caused by surgery. For people with a stoma, this is referred to as a parastomal hernia.
Support wear
There are a few types of support wear available that can help to protect your stomach muscles but also help prevent a hernia developing.
Stoma support wear is available in varying levels of support, from level 1 which is a light support up to a stronger support at level 3.
They are available in different style, some are like underwear and can be pulled up over your stoma, other are like a belt with a Velcro closure that you can wrap around your stomach. There are also supports that are like a band that you step into and pull up over your stomach. They all come in different sizes from extra-small to extra-large. Some companies will offer to make you a custom garment if you don’t fall into any of these sizes. They are available in beige, white and black.
It is important to know that all support wear is designed, so that your stoma will continue to work while you are wearing a garment.
Your Stoma Nurse will advise you on the support garment that best suits your needs. It is important to be correctly fitted, as the wrong size or wrong level will not provide the support that you need.
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