Swimming with an ileostomy

Also is taking Immodium a good idea?

I had surgery in November, and I just went swimming at our city indoor pool for the first time yesterday. As Summerstorm said, not sure of your gender... but I am a female, and bought some board shorts at the local Eddie Bauer outlet and then 2 tankini tops and a pair of Nike swim shorts (sort of like boy short bottoms, but longer and a little baggier) at Kohls. Both the board shorts and swim short still showed the top of my pouch, so I wore my ostomy briefs from Comfizz under my swimsuit bottoms, which are made of a nylon wicking material. This covered up the top of my pouch just in case my tankini top rode up. I just ordered a swim wrap from Ostomy Secrets for this role too, but I haven't received it in the mail yet.

I plan to try some Sure Seals, but I am sampling all sorts of appliances right now, so I am not sure what size to get. Even without Sure Seals, I had absolutely no problem with my wafer coming loose, and I was in the pool for an hour and the hot tub for 20 minutes. In fact, it was my appliance changing day yesterday too, and when I went to remove my wafer it was still stuck on like glue... maybe even more than usual because the heat of the hot tub seemed to have made the Durahesive part of the Convatec wafer I was using fuse to my skin. Not sure how other brands will fare, but the Convatec is definitely pool/swim worthy.

I was going to swap out to a smaller closed-end pouch too, but after getting advice on this site, decided to skip that. My normal drainable one worked great. I was actually glad I didn't try the closed-end, as I emptied when I woke up and 30 minutes later when I arrived at the pool for my early morning swim, I already had to empty again (I always have a lot of output in the morning). It would have been a pain to have to swap out a pouch in that short amount of time when it really isn't necessary.

I am going to go to the pool again on Thursday and this time I am trying the water slides:)

Happy swimming!

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-39 years old
-Officially diagnosed with UC in 2006, though had symptoms since 1999.
-Had mild/moderate symptoms continuously until severe flare in autumn 2010 which required 2-week hospital stay
-Took Asacol, Rowasa, Canasa and Prednisone to manage flares but meds stopped working
-Tried 1 dose of Remicade but had excruciating joint pain and discontinued
-Had permanent ileostomy surgery 11/8/201

I use hydrocoil strips made my salts they also go over the base plate and I am able to go into the surf with no problems at all. My wafer never comes loose, its such an awsome feeling being able to go to the beach and not worry. I too wear a tankini and just tuck the bottom of my pouch into the pants and no one can see it at all, I don't bother with bobby pinning it up or pinning the top of the tankini to the bottoms. I am at a really happy place with my pouch now so I don't really give a darn if anyone happens to see something, for all they know it could be a bandage on my tummy. But truely its well covered anyway. I'm in Australia and we are going into winter so I wont be heading to the beach again for a swim until it warms up again. Enjoy! Let us know how you go, have a great time
Doreen

I actually didnt swim for about 6 years because I was to nervous to swim having an ostomy, this past summer was first time I swam since getting illiostomy. I dont know what a sure seal or any of those covers are and Ive never seen them or heard of them. For me I just change my appliance that day or the day before, if its a new seal then you will have no problem swimming, granted the seal might not last as long since it got wet, but Im used to using it for 2 or 3 swims before I get to nervous to try it again, even though it might not be showing any signs of loosening. How long do your wagers usually last when your not swimming? I know people are all different and some can last no time what so ever but some people can get their to last more then a week which I can a lot of the time. I dont notice any change in swimming having to change my wafer any earlieri mean its just like being wet in the shower anyway.

Also you all say you just tuck it in your shorts or your bathing suit I dont quite understand this....how low on your abdomin is your wafer placed? for me its much to high to be covered up like any of the ways your saying, so for me I have to wear a 'tube top' like a women wears you know around their boobs, (I'm a male I wear it around my waste and it keeps the bag held close to my body so even if i have gas or anything then there is no bump or anything like that to draw attention to look like something is under my shirt. So I wear a tubetop around the waste covering it and then I alsoo wear a t-shirt when I swim too, because for me I'm just not comfortable to be out in the outdoors with my ostomy showing, thats what I dont get how are you hiding it how do you make it so people cant see, you cant go so low on your abdomin to hide it, plus you have to place it according to your wasteband on your pants you wear.

womens stomas are usually placed lower than mens. i cant understand how people say they let their bag hang out over their pants, i would have to have my pants pulled half way down, lol.
what we are saying is that we turn the tail up under the bottom part of the tankini, which is sort of like underwear. my stoma is below my belly button and to the right.

i have noticed for some reason my bag gets so much wetter in the shower for 15 minutes then for hours in the pool or hottub.

the only reason i pin my suit together, is cause i don't want to flash everyone! i was in the pool, luckily at home, and when i jumped in, my top totally flew up, and my cookies came right out! there were some close friends there, but i have known them for a while, so it wasn't that bad, lol.
But i got to thinking that, esp on a water slide, the same thing could happen, and i so don't want to show everyone in the world!

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UC for 8 years, before finally kicking its butt and having a permanent ileostomy April 17 2007!
-I have gone to find myself, if i get back before i return, keep me here-
No matter what kind of day you are having, take five minutes to sing loudly and dance like a fool!

ostomy.org has bathing suit material..its great

Cool idea, Stephanie! I went swimming in my brother's pool yesterday and had no problems with the wafer holding its seal. It was the first time I had gone swimming just a few hours after putting on a new wafer, so I wasn't sure if it was going to hold, but it did. I brought a wafer change, just in case, and was glad I didn't have to use it.

Our pool installation is coming along swimmingly. My husband and I promised each other that we wouldn't pee while in it, but I said I couldn't promise that I wouldn't poo while in it.

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Dx'd Crohn's in '99 at age 28. Proctocolectomy and permanent ileostomy in '06.
Disease-free and medicine-free since surgery and very thankful to be healthy again.

What website would I go to to order a Sure Seal? I tried searching Conva Tech's site with no luck..

Even if you can't sew you could easily take that to a tailor and they could do it for cheap. Maybe $15.

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Stephanie, 29 years old

March 2000-Diagnosed Crohn's Colitis
(Tried every drug imaginable, but lived 10 years with daily diarrhea)
March 18, 2010-Total Proctocolectomy and Permanent Ileostomy! :)
(Now med free, 4 subsequent procedures to correct blockages at stoma site)

Stoma named Zoe...She's my best bud!! :)

I am glad my reversal was May 18th. I love swimming with a passion. but when I had my ostomy, it would start coming off everytime I took a shower. usually by that night, I would have to change it so would never have the confidence to swim with the bag. My ostomy was in the fall and winter. and early spring. so swimming never became an issue because it was too cool all the months I had my ostomy. plus I hate 1 pieces. I am a bikini type girl and haven't had a one piece in years. or even a tankini. that is just me though. My mother in law has a permanent ileostomy. And she wears tankinis and you can't see the bag at all. She swims in both the pool and the ocean. And never has an issue. She just does a bag change when she is done swimming. And she has stayed swimming for hours with us at the beach before.