Intimacy for older people

Hear from Kate, a community stoma care nurse.

From A Bigger Life

Your age or your ostomy don’t have to stop you from enjoying and fulfilling sexual intimacy.

However, it is important to let your body recover after surgery and regain your strength.

While you won’t be able to have intercourse in the 4-6 weeks after your surgery, there are many other ways to be intimate during this time.

Hugging, kissing, holding hands, touching, cuddling are all ways of experiencing intimacy.

It is very important to talk to your partner about how you are feeling and about your desires.

When you are ready for intercourse again, here are some tips that might help:

– Empty your pouch first, make sure you feel clean.

– If you want to hide your pouch, you can get attractive underwear that covers your pouch.

– Try lying on your stoma side so the pouch doesn’t fall down between you and your partner.

– Bring in a sense of humour. There will be noises at some point and it is best to laugh them off rather than getting embarrassed.

-Try things out to see what works and what you enjoy.

Since your attitude is probably the most important ingredient for a happy sex life, you should do whatever you feel you need to do to feel relaxed, free, and at ease with your body.

Talking about these issues is a giant step forward.

You might be interested in:

• Let’s talk about sex
• Can I still have a baby?
• Telling your child about your stoma
• Advice for teens
• Erectile dysfunction