Showering Tips with a PICC Line and Surgical Wounds

May sound like a stupid question but I'm wondering.  My surgical wound has finally healed so the doc said I can shower again.

I have to cover up my picc line which isn't a problem because they send me a sleeve for that.  

Should I cover my bags with something?

Should I let the water hit directly on them?

Does the soap & water weaken the seal?

Janice,



you just shower like any other normal person. First of all, you can shower surgical wounds using natural soaps and softly dry them with tissues. Any wound that´s open can be treated with a medical desinfectant afterwards. There is no need to wait for wounds to be closed completely.



Your baggy is waterproof and you can step into a nice bubble bath or go for a swim whenever you want. Of course, the wafer (or seal) loves water, otherwise it would cause your skin to sweat.  So if you let it get wet, the sides absorb a little bit of water which is no problem because it will evaporate again.  The longer you stay under water (like swimming) the more the wafer absorbs and could eventually let a little bit loose on the sides. Don´t worry about that.

To prevent minor problems, or to make you feel more secure, you can tape off the sides with a waterproof tape or surgical adhesive foil (the one they use to fix total parental nutrition I.V.´s)



So don´t worry about anything and do everything you ever did before.



Please enjoy your life to the max like any other "normal" person. Forget about your baggy.



Cheers, Richard

NEVER a stupid question girl!

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   You just climb into that shower and enjoy the water....let it clense your soul right along with your body and go ahead 'n let it splash you everywhere.  As for me, I get too chilly in showers, I'm a bubble bath person

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  and every night I submerge into my blissful bubbles, little baggie and all, even if the tape losens up from time to time, Hell, I don't care.  So what, then I will change the appliance when I'm done.  Gotta enjoy my hot bubbles....  

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  ~Much love to yah from your Wounded Doe

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I can completely relate to the picc line being covered, but everything else is okay. As stated above, just shower/bathe as you did before. Some people shower without the appliance, others with. It's all just personal preference and as Richard said, the wafer is cool with water!



On another note, Wounded Doe, you said "appliance". I guess I'm rubbing off on you

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LOL!!!  I think you are right!!

Words of Encouragement from Ostomy Advocates I Hollister

I just got an ostomy cap in the mail.  Made out of the same stuff as the bags are. Looks kind of like a doll's sailor hat.

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  A little bigger than the stoma and a little extra room so it doesn't press on the stoma.  My nurse says swimmers use them if they have irrigated already before they swim. It snaps right on like a bag.  If I am due to change the flange I remove it shower NAKED.  If I want to continue wearing the flange I remove the bag rinse it and store it in a baggie while I shower. Put on the cap and shower.  I store it in a ziplock baggie for the next shower and apply regular bag after showering. It's nice to not have to wait for the regular bag to dry.

thanks all.  Looking forward to a nice hot shower!

Thanks for asking the question, I've always wandered about that as I've always changed the wafer and pouch after a shower for fear of having the whole thing fall off.

well i showered.  flange stayed on but what a pain to dry off!  My bags were damp for 1/2 the day. Think I'll stick to washing in the sink.

Hi Janice, how about a hairdryer?  Don´t let the air get too hot or keep the device too close to your baggy because the plastic will shrink, melt and cause a leakage.
Please don´t give up too easily.
You can also fold some toilet paper and put it between your skin and the baggy, get dressed and in a short while you remove the damp paper and continue with a dry baggie.

Enjoy your showers

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I shower and bath like a normal bagless person. i keep my bag on as i dont want to share it with poo. And after i put a fresh bag on as i dont want to wear a wet soggy bag and the heat and water makes it deteriate anyway.

For me its either a quick shower or a long bath, mainly a quick shower.

i will try ur ideas cagabolsa. thanks for the tips.  poppyread. Are you saying u have the 2 pc. bags & just change the bag & not the flange after ur shower?  Doesn't taking the bag on & off loosen the flange?

When I first joined this forum, I read many, many posts about complicated ways to keep your bag completely protected from water. I tried several and even bought some fairly expensive gadgets. The opinion at the time (only 15 months ago) was that water was the enemy of bags. Now from what I am reading here, that's not the case at all! What's changed?

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Usually when it's time to change my equipment--which is typically every third day--I use a stoma cap in the shower. Sometimes, if I'm really confident that I'm well evacuated, I shower without anything. In fact, I've taken hospital/sink/sponge baths except for appliance-changing day. If it's really perfectly all right to shower with wafer and bag on, that would certainly make me enjoy showering daily again!

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I use two-piece Hollister products. I find that the filter and escape valve are quite worn out after no more than two days anyway, so I can't imagine not having to change completely every third day. By the third day my bag is usually blowing up like a balloon and I'm beginning to smell myself. I usually risk a blow-out if I try to keep a wafer on longer than three days anyway...

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I use the Hollister tandem with a drainable pouch. Keep it on for 4 - 5 days. I shower and dry the bag with a towel after drying myself. Never had an issue with the bag being wet and if it was I just tie a small towelling babies bib around the flange and that absorbs sweat and water no problem. Also helps stop the rash you get in hot weather by absorbing the sweat and not allowing bacteria to breed.

I have had my stoma only since end June only ever bathed once with bag.  Always bath uncovered - now irrigating successfully and no need but in early days just had piece toilet tissue handy in case and if used disposed down toilet. Did find bag took time to dry and tried hairdrier too but uncovered felt good. Using flushable one piece for preference but never been in situation not to change for days at a time. Now using mini, removing before irrigation followed by bath and then new one until next time