Having had surgery that results in a stoma can knock your confidence and make you feel like withdrawing from social situations. We believe everyone in the ostomy community should have someone to talk to, but if you aren’t feeling up to going out yet, it can be hard to meet the right people. Our social media channels and campaigns, such as #MyConfidenceBE and #BEyourselfie encourage people living with a stoma to share their experiences online and become part of a supportive community.
Angie Perrin, Salts Healthcare’s Clinical Education Lead, discusses social media as a source of comfort and advice:
The impact of social media is the focus of many news stories, but how can we use it for our own benefit?
Social media is an integral part of life: a source of daily news, keeping in touch with family and meeting new friends. It has opened up new channels of communication and information: but it’s important to be mindful of our consumption and sources.
Social media can enhance connection, increase self-esteem and give a sense of belonging.
Some people living with a stoma report that they receive much support, encouragement and confidence from seeing others talk about their stoma journey. Indeed, many of the Salts Brand Advocates speak of the benefits of connecting with others. They commonly talk about the realisation of their situation: the feeling of not being alone, the tips, the moments and the milestones.
But it’s important to understand everyone is different, that some may welcome the opportunity to chat about their journey and others may not. Also that the situation can change as a person’s stoma journey progresses. Salts has researched the topic of psychological well-being to ensure we understand as much as possible and offer the right type of support.
So, investigate social media as a source of positive information but use healthcare professionals and patient groups to signpost you to credible sites. There are many reliable sources of stoma-related information listed here on our website, and don’t forget our Salts Healthcare and Salts Medilink social media channels SaltsHealthcare and SaltsMedilink – which all have loads of up-to-date guidance and information.
Some of our Confidence BE® users and Brand Advocates share their key moments and milestones in their post-op journey, as well as advice they would give others going through a similar situation.
My Moment: Going on holiday 8 weeks after my surgery made me realise that life doesn’t stop after having a stoma! I went skiing for 4 days and had the same Confidence BE® bag on for the whole time. It didn’t move once, making me feel super secure and safe.
My Moment: Going out for dinner and feeling comfortable and confident to eat for the first time! I would avoid eating and drinking when I went out for a long time after my initial stoma surgery, as I worried about accidents or changing my bag in public. I was nervous but soon realised all was okay and there was nothing to worry about.
My Moment: A couple of months after my surgery, I was in the crowd at Glastonbury festival and realised it was time in as long as I could remember that I was purely enjoying the moment and not worrying about where the nearest loo was. I thought that if I can do this, I really can do anything!
My Advice: You are still you! Experiment with your wardrobe, the less visible your stoma bag, the more you begin to forget you’re wearing one, and when socialising you’ll gain back any lost confidence. Also, don’t let your stoma define you. It’s just a new part of you and nothing to be ashamed of.
My Advice: Reach out on social media groups dedicated to living with a stoma. They are full of great advice and it’s nice to know you’re not alone, with thousands of people who are at different stages of the same journey.
My Moment: I know you may feel scared, but it’s going to be okay. It’s going to be more than okay. The day I had my stoma and it started working was the day I wondered why I didn’t have it sooner. My stoma has given me my life back.
My Moment: Completing my first full club bike ride. Being able to cycle for 3 hours without leaking or worrying about leakage gave me the belief I could do anything going forward.
My Moment: I realised I was ready to start socialising again when I attended a wedding 2 weeks after my surgery. At the start of the day, I was checking my bag regularly, but quickly realised I didn’t need to. By the end of the day, I felt confident and happy knowing I’d still be able to do the things I’d always done.
My Moment: My first time leaving the house, apart from for some brief exercise, was 4 weeks post-surgery to get pathology results. Before the appointment, I thought about nothing but getting to the appointment and home safely. However, I ended up in our local pub for lunch and was on cloud 9! Right then I knew I could go from strength to strength, build my confidence and widen my social circle.
Having a stoma is a major change in your life and it can take time to adapt to your new lifestyle. You may need support with learning how to cope with difficult emotions, how to get used to your altered body or support with building your confidence. We have various support tools and resources which are aimed to help improve your well-being. Explore these tools and resources below.
Confidence BE® has a range of features that may help improve self-esteem, body image, comfort, confidence and sleep quality by helping to reduce leaks, odour, ballooning, pancaking, noise and skin irritation.
Choice of three colours: black, white and stone. Available in closed, drainable, urostomy, flat and soft convex.
The filter is designed to ensure that a gas path can always be maintained to help reduce ballooning, and to help neutralise odour.
Urostomy hydrocolloid resists fluid and erosion for longer*.
* In comparison to Salts Confidence® Natural Advance Closed and Drainable stoma bags. 25% less erosion over a 24-hour period. Data on file. Salts Healthcare 2022.
Outlet tucks away and is securely fastened with premium VELCRO® hook and loop fastener material.
Outlet tucks aways and is securely fastened with premium VELCRO® hook and loop fastener material.
Soft outlet and bung are comfortable without compromising ease of use.
Rotating and detachable bung lanyard can be moved away from urine flow when draining.
We offer a wide range of one-piece colostomy bags and two-piece colostomy bags designed to make life easier with innovative features for greater comfort, flexibility and security. We have a range of colostomy supplies for you to sample from.
Our one-piece colostomy product range includes:
Our two-piece colostomy product range includes;
Both our one-piece and two-piece closed stoma bags are available in flat and convex.
