Shaving Challenges with Ostomy Wafers: Alternatives and Tips

For those of us who have hair where the wafer attaches we need to prep the skin so the wafer adheres and doesn’t leak.  Shaving can irritate the skin, cause ingrown hairs, nick the stoma, prevent adhesion of the wafer because of the razor’s lubricating strips and lead to panic attacks because of the fear of an accident. My surgeon suggested I stop using a razor and just cut the hair close to the skin.  I opted for a battery-powered device that resembles a hedge trimmer but about one-thirtieth the size.  They’re used for removing nose and ear hair and cost about 15 dollars at Walmart, Kmart or places like those. It’s been three months since I shaved  and my skin is perfect.  (Around the stoma at least)  Hope this is helpful.

Sincerely,

Mike

I have a permanent radical ileostomy with complete removal of the rectum since October 1992, and it has been a significant problem to me. I am a man so I am naturally hairy on my chest and stomach areas even though I am not as hairy as an ape. Even so, I have found that after having a well-secured appliance installed, it might only be three days later when the itching would become unbearable. So I would open up the adhesive and spent several minutes of eye-rolling ecstasy wildly scratching the opened area with my fingernails. This is an almost identical situation one has when one has to have an arm or body cast. I had a semi-body cast as a teenager for a hip injury and the hairs of my legs would torment me unmercifully when it itched against the plaster casts on my legs. I would resort to taking a coat-hanger, bending it out of shape, then sliding it down the inside of the casts to scratch my legs. That only gave me cuts and tore the inner fabric of the cast lining.



So with the ileostomy appliance, every time I broke the adhesive and enjoyed several minutes of scratching, I had proverbial hell to pay later that night or the next day. It would leak uncontrollably and at the most inopportune times.



I did try shaving before, but the more one shaves, the faster the hair grows back, so it's an uncomfortable Catch 22, especially since the cost of ostomy appliances are very high.



I have recently tried something called Brava brand elastic barrier strips and it works to reduce the itching considerably because it creates a tighter seal. Each strip is shaped like an half-oval, so I take one half oval and put it around the top part of the gasket circle and take another one to cover the bottom half of the gasket circle. It does the trick better than the usual 3mm transpore surgical tape I used to tape up the sides of the appliance gasket circle with.

We're all different what works for doesn't for another, I've used womens disposable razors for over 20 years and never had any skin problems, womens razors are more gentle on the skin than mens

Hey TK. I compliment you for your humor in spite of the discomfort. We're all learning and I'm glad you've made some progress.
Panther, I never thought women's razors would be more gentle.
Thanks, guys.
Mike

Fully agree Panther,  I use a small ladies bikini line battery powered razor, and happy with the results.

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