A colostomy is a surgical procedure aimed at bringing a part of the colon out through the belly to create a stoma. The healthy part of the bowel is diverted away from the diseased section during this procedure. The opening in the belly created as a result of this diversion surgery is known as a stoma. To manage stool passing out of the stoma, you are going to have to wear an ostomy bag that collects waste content.
There can be many reasons you may need a colostomy. One of those reasons is bowel incontinence.
Colostomy to treat bowel incontinence
Bowel incontinence refers to the loss of control over when to pass out stools. The severity of this condition varies from small leakage to the total loss of control over stool evacuations. The colostomy in this scenario diverts the passage of waste materials away from the dysfunctional anal sphincters. Although your colostomy will not give you control over stool evacuations either, there are a lot of things that you can do to manage your colostomy. Managing stools that pass out through dysfunctional anal sphincters is next to impossibility.
Sometimes, bowel incontinence occurs as a backdrop of other conditions that cause infection in the colon. If a part of your colon is infected, the surgeon will want to separate it from the rest of the GI tract. In such a scenario, you will retain a part of your colon. If your entire colon has been infected, the surgeon will pull out the end of the small intestine to create an ileostomy. The stool passing out of a stoma will not be as firm and formed as that passing out of the anus. The consistency of the stomal output will also depend on the length of the colon you retain.
Living with an ostomy
You may wonder what the difference is between living with a stoma and living with the bowel incontinence, as both refer to the loss of control over stool evacuations. The benefit of having a colostomy as a treatment of bowel incontinence is that there are a lot of options that you can consider to manage stool evacuations through an opening in the belly. The abdominal skin provides enough ground for an ostomy pouch to fit snugly over the stoma. By emptying and replacing your ostomy pouch regularly, you will be able to take back the control of your life.
After colostomy surgery, you may have to follow a strict diet plan to avoid any complications in your GI tract. Diet restrictions remain in place until the bowel fully recovers from surgery. It may take 6-8 months. You may also need to avoid heavy lifting for a while to avoid any stress on abdominal muscles. This stress can result in stoma complications that can interfere in your ostomy care regimen. Be sure to discuss your fitness routine with the doctor.
Having an ostomy will necessitate you to take care of the skin around the stoma. This part of the skin holds significant importance in ostomy care as it allows your ostomy bag to remain in place. You can talk to an ostomy care nurse if you face any skin problems that cause problems to the ostomy care.
