Advice Needed for New Irrigator on Alternatives to Bags

Hello, I joined this site in June 2022 so I could get information on irrigation and hear about others who have gone through similar experiences. I ended up irrigating for the first time on July 2nd. I tend to work with people one to two days a week, so I irrigate the night before, and it's definitely peace of mind while being in close contact with my clients.

I saw a few posts on this site recommending coroplast film and cotton pad as an alternative to wearing a bag for those that irrigate. Has anyone tried this, and if so, here is my question:

I find the only problem with wearing the cotton circle and coroplast film is when gas is passed through the stoma. Then the coroplast gets inflated and must be burped. Once you lift a corner of the film to let the gas escape, the seal is now broken, and the film does not adhere to the skin properly. Does anyone have a way around this or another method? I had my hopes up that one day I would get off these disposable bags through irrigating. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Hello John A.

i have not heard of the film and cotton pads before, so cannot help on that score. However, there are several alternatives for irrigators. Personally, I use the Coloplast conseal plug. A picture of which you can view on my profile. These plugs are made of a porous material which let the gas out but withhold any residual output. there are also other alternatives such as patches but I don't know much about them.

There have been other posts about this in the post and they can be found in the 'collections' section.

Best wishes

Bill

Have you tried the patches? Hollister 1796 works well for me. You can eliminate 90% of gas by adjusting your diet. If you stop eating breads, grains, and cereal, you will see a drastic reduction in gas.

Hello Bill,

Thank you for taking the time to answer my post. I did purchase a box of patches recently and found the same problem with ballooning. I will contact Coloplast and see if I might be able to get a sample conceal plug to try out. Thank you again!

Hi there,

Thank you for answering my post. Yes, ironically, I purchased a box of those about 2 months ago. I only tried one or two as I found the ballooning was an issue. I will try to change my diet and give the patch another try. Do you find you have to burp the patch? That was my issue as once you remove the patch seal, it never seems to seal properly again. Sorry, this is still new to me. I'm persistent, so if there is a way for me to live without a bag, sign me up! Thank you again for reaching out.

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