Ballooning is a term you might hear in relation to your stoma bag but you might not understand exactly that is. Basically, it’s whenever your bag fills up full of air whenever your stoma has produced some wind.
Releasing excess wind from your stoma bag:
Drainable bag
If you are wearing a drainable bag and usually keep your bag on for 3-4 days, you will find that ballooning will be more of an issue the longer you keep your bag on. If possible, change your bag more frequently, so the filter is working more effectively. Perhaps, getting in the routine of changing your bag every 48 hours if you find ballooning is an issue. If you are wearing a drainable bag it is much easier to empty the air out through the outlet.
Closed bag
Whenever you have a colostomy and you are using a closed bag, you might feel that ballooning is a huge problem. You could think about trying a two-piece bag system so you’ll be able to ‘burp’ the bag, meaning you can release the 2-piece bag and let the air go out but not remove the whole bag every time it does balloon up.
Your wind will go into your bag so you can’t even be blamed for the “who did it?” when somebody drops a nasty smell in a public area.Read story
Ballooning solutions:
Different stoma bags have different filters. It’s worth trying a few different stoma bags until you find one that works best for you. Try not to let your bag filter get wet and if you are heading for a bath, shower, or swim, cover it with one of the filter stickers that come with your box of bags – just don’t forget to remove the sticker when you’re finished!
Some food and drinks are known for causing extra gas, which can lead to ballooning. It might be worth finding out which ones impact you and minimising or eliminating them from your diet.
If you’ve got a colostomy, stoma irrigation (where you flush your bowel out with warm water) can help reduce the effects of ballooning. It’s effective, but it’s not suitable for everyone, so it should always be discussed with and taught by your stoma care nurse.
