Wintertime can be a challenging time of year for everyone, but for ostomates there can be some additional hurdles. Alannah shares how the winter months affect her and offers some tips for coping with the colder weather…

Prepare for the change in temperature

 The colder weather can often have a drying effect on the skin. This can make it flake and peel, causing pain and sometimes bleeding. I find the skin on my face and around my stoma can really dry out and this can affect the adhesive. It can be helpful to preheat your bag either by putting it on top of a radiator or, if you don’t have one nearby, simply put your bag underneath your arm for a couple of seconds. This helps heat up the adhesive and the bag will stick much quicker!

 Protect against coughs and colds

 Keeping up with winter vaccinations is important to help prevent flu, but sometimes there’s no avoiding coughs and colds. This can be a huge hurdle for us ostomates. The risk of a hernia is very high, and, for me, it causes quite a bit of anxiety! The biggest advice I can give to help prevent a hernia developing, is wearing support wear which you can get from Comfizz on and off prescription (depending on where you live in the UK).

There is a wide range of ostomy support garments and belts available. If you’re unsure, ask your stoma care nurse for advice. Some small things you can do at home to help your cough is to get a little steam cup from online and when coughing, hold a pillow over your stoma to not strain the muscles around it or cause any excess pressure on the stoma itself. 

Remember to wrap up and top up!

If you are going outside in the cold, keep warm and layer up! There are no right or wrong things to wear, just make sure nothing is putting too much pressure over your bag in case it fills up as we never want to cause a pop of the bag if we can help it! One thing I do during the winter is making sure I have enough stoma supplies because of where I live, delivery takes a minimum of 2 days for anything (even next day delivery), and the weather can mean disruptions in getting supplies.  

Eat well and stay hydrated!

This is still as important in winter as it is in summer. Making sure you eat and drink well helps you fight these bugs and colds and gives you energy to keep you moving! You sweat a lot in those layers to keep warm and that’s why we must keep on top of our hydration to combat those salts and sugars being lost in our sweat. This can be replenished from drinking sports’ drinks or electrolytes.

Above all, take extra care of yourself during winter and, if you’re poorly, listen to your body lovelies and please, please rest up.

About the author: Alannah is an ostomy, chronic illness, mental health, invisible illness, and disabilities blogger. She lives in Scotland with family you can follow her @glitteryguts