Disposing of your stoma appliances

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Stoma Management

Hear from Sarah our Clinical Advisor

From A Bigger Life

When you you are learning to manage your stoma, one of the first questions you will ask is “How do I dispose of my appliance?”

You will be supplied with disposable bags, which are scented. You put all of your rubbish into the bag, tie a knot and put it in your outside bin.

That’s all you need to do when you are at home and you have your supplies close to hand but the process is different when you are out and about. For ladies, using the sanitary bins in public restrooms can be an option. If possible, you can use a disabled toilet. You’re not classified as disabled but it gives you more space, more room, more privacy and a big bin to put your rubbish in.

Especially if you are in a shared house or you are a student, you might be concerned about the amount of waste you are generating. If that is an issue you are entitled to speak to your local council and ask for a second bin for the house. A lot of people had to do this because of the bin collections being reduced to twice a month.

Another option would be using an internal sanitary bin. This is similar to what new mothers would use to dispose of nappies, this could be an option to use during the night when it might not be as easy to go to your outside bin. You can put all of your rubbish into the sanitary bin, turn a lever around to seal everything and it contains the odour.

Stoma bags can be placed in with normal household rubbish and thus passed to the bin-men. My local council though offer a clinical waste collection which I use. More

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