We all have our little tricks that seem to work well. Lets put them up for others to read.
Topics can be on anything.

Before emptying ostomy into toilet, get yourself ready, flush and when you see the wirlpool start, pour the bag right into the center. No more splaters. You may have to flush twice if you don't want to leave tissue in the bowl. I also find if you put tissue into the water first then emtpy into it, it splaters less.

Hope that helps.

Hey, what a great idea! I wish I'd known your non-splash trick when I had my ostomy. I had terrible problems with back-splash no matter how much I tried to let the contents of my bag out slowly. Ugh!
My tip to combat gas:
Drink herbal tea: mint, chamomile and fennel are all good to reduce gas.

Another thing I do is, when I prep my skin around stoma I use a medium size makeup brush instead of a hair blower. To spread the powder around. Works great. I bought mine at CVS for like $5.00

When I emptied my bag I found the easiest way as a man was to mount the toilet backwards. Seemed like I could control the splash & had more room to work with ( the back is wider than the front & doesn't taper down)! Also if you have a crazy loop ileostomy that doesn't allow you to change & dry the skin before putting on a wafer, shove a tampon in the hole & hold or have spouse put on wafer while your holding & put bag on over tampon & retrieve later! Before my takedown that was the only way to get a bag to seal good enough to give skin a rest to heal. If your loop was like mine, it was a nightmare most the time! Danny

Don't remember where I got this one from, but the only thing that seemed to turn my 'loop-ileo faucet off', was eating 3-4 large marshmallows about 10-15 minutes before I'd shower/change my bag.

It was literally like turning off a faucet for a good 30-45 minutes! If I didn't do that, it was a constant race/mess!

//Todd

Marshmellows help me with my j-pouch too. When I'm having a very lose day... I eat a few marshmellows and within an hour it slows down quite a bit.

Also... I just found out that eating just rice allows me to not have to go to the restroom for a few hours. When I go and play soccer over the weekends,I have a bowl of rice for breakfast anbd then off I go. Crazy.. but it works for me and I'll take it!

Nicole

A couple of tricks I learned courtesy of some very bright nurses...

First, if the food is sticky and binding before I eat it, it will be sticky and binding after I eat it. I was actually handed a script for a fluffernutter...

Second, if the skin gets excoriated, try some milk of magnesia... just a little painting over the excoriated area... the coating helps the skin heal.

Last, to keep down any odor coming out of the bag, toss in a couple of altoids... they do more than just freshen your breath, though I don't see the makers advertising this. Those things are definitely curiously strong.

Here's a few of my favourites.

If you've just taken off your old wafer and your stoma starts spewing, sit on the toilet facing the cistern and lean forward. The output will go straight down the toilet and you can "sit" it out until it's slowed down enough to continue with your change.

Wear the larger bags at an angle across your stomach. That way you can tuck it into your underwear so nothing peeps out down one leg. It will also hold more so fewer trips to the loo to empty and it will spread the load so that you don't feel so lopsided.

Put some of your favourite antiperspirant deoderant under where the bag sits. It will help to stop you getting sweaty and will smell nice too. If it's particularly hot and humid or you are working out etc, then a cotton baby's bib tied around the wafer will keep you even drier.

This one isn't something that happens often to most people but if your stoma ever gets swollen (can happen sometimes if the wafer's too tight) or has telescoped and you are finding it hard to get a new wafer in the right position put some sugar on the stoma and it will shrink right back to size.

What a great thread! I'm sure there are plenty of good tips out there to share.

Shell

After I put my waffer on I put a thin layer of paste on top of the waffer. And everyday when I shower I'll apply touch ups to the areas where the paste has worn away. I've found this really helps prevent the waffer from breaking down too soon. That came from someone else, I read it either here or on the other ostomy support site.

Scott

I'm not trying to debunk the marshmallow idea, since so many people swear by it. But does anyone have any idea how that actually works? It seems to me that 10-15 minutes is barely time for it to digest in the stomach, much less make it anywhere else to affect anything.

I've always wondered about this one. Here's what I found on marshmallow ingredients:

"Marshmallows are made from only a few ingredients, which fall into two main categories: sweeteners and emulsifying agents. Sweeteners include corn syrup, sugar, and dextrose. Proportionally, there is more corn syrup than sugar because it increases solubility (the ability to dissolve) and retards crystallization. Corn starch, modified food starch, water, gum, gelatin, and/or whipped egg whites are used in various combinations. The resulting combination gives the marshmallows their texture. They act as emulsifying agents by maintaining fat distribution and providing the aeration that makes marshmallows puffy. Gum, obtained from plants, also can act as an emulsifier in marshmallows, but it is also important as a gelling agent."

Any ideas?

I suspect it's the gelatine. It must act the same way as pectin in stewed apples.

I have never had any luck with the marshmallow trick though have had good results with wine gums (similar to gummy bears but not as sweet) which also have a lot of gelatine in them but less sugar.

I don't use anything now as I can't remember the last time I needed to do an emergency wafer change (touching wood here) and I change Wee Willie at the same time of day when he's usually quiet.

Shell

Wow, these are all great idea's. Please keep them coming. I'm sure we are all finding something new to try. Happy Holidays.

Remembered another one,
Go to a craft store and pick up a bag of popcicle sticks. These are very handy, when doing a change I use them to push on my skin while I pull on the waffer. It seems to hurt less. Also if you need to push junk back into the bag, also great for that.

They come in a smaller size too. Buy both and have one on hand when you do your changes. It works like a charm.

Cheers.

There was a question raised why marshmallows work ... i am wondering if it would be the combo of the geletin and corn starch ... you use cornstarch to thicken gravy and geletin is a thickener ... combining them may be the trick?