Stoma Location and Managing Hair Growth Around It

Hello all,

Do any any of you have the stoma directly across from your belly button?

How in this world do you all get rid of the hair around the stoma?

I look forward to the information any of you can provide.

Very carefully, and not after a GT. I use a high quality throw away razor for everything outside the ring. I also use a very fine pair of scissors for any hair within a half inch of the stoma. You can't clip every hair but you can trim the area well enough to be able to remove your flange without screaming. PS: You can change your picture very easily by editing your profile. PB

Thanks... the older I get, the harder it is to handle the small rascals next to the stoma... thought of pulling hair, but that would be cruel punishment... one of those bad passing thoughts. Will try and fix the photo...

Hi :) well....I'm a chick so I don't have hair on my tummy but I just wanted to pass along a reminder from someone in a local support group in my area regarding this subject....he said he has as much hair as Klinger from Mash, and this was always a serious problem for him. He's tried EVERYthing and wanted to make sure NOBODY tried any hair removing lotions like No No or Nair or any other kind of thing. BURNS LIKE HELL and serious skin irritations and much misery was involved in his experience that he shared with the group. He has discovered that the best thing to do, is exactly what Primeboy just metioned. Hopefully that will save any tempting future experimentations that might go in a bad direction ...cheers!

Yes...thank you. I have heard that about hair removers. I have used Primeboys method for 12 years. As I get older, the hair next to the stoma is the worst. I was told my stoma is located too high and should have been lower. If it were lower, the hair might not be a problem (it's not a problem, just a hurdle). Thanks for the feedback on hair... but what about the normal location of stomas... or is there a standard placement of the little rosebud?

My Ostomy Journey: LeeAnne | Hollister

I have a stoma that I would consider to be pretty close to my belly button. And my bag folds into my belly button hole when adhered to the skin. The bag starts to come undone at this point. I would like to hear if there is any glue that would help restick it. I'm not like Clinger, but when I had my wound vac, I cried like a baby every time they replaced the tape, which was every two days! Ouch... I shave all the time now and get as close to the stoma as I dare; the rest I pluck only because the wax from the Eakin seal is stuck to it. Some people pluck their unibrow; I pluck my stoma. LOL

My stoma is higher than what used to be my belly button. For me, I have a very sharp hunting knife that I use and can shave right up to my stoma.

To answer the question, males typically have the stoma where yours is located. Sometimes it is actually below. Some countries also may have other preferences. This is a huge misunderstanding before people have surgery: placement. It really depends. When observing some people, one woman who was getting married had hers below. So, it depends. However, when I mean like yours... it's a little below the belly button. Some have them lower. I should have said that from the start. So when I said below, I meant below what is typical. As far as the hair... an electric trimmer can be used as well.

I feel bad for those who have poor or uncomfortable stoma placement :( ...Each time I had surgery, I was asked about where the most comfortable location would be, and the Ostomy Nurse marked the spot with a magic marker for the surgeon.......and OMG, weewee, you made me shiver to read your words LOL ....yikes! :D

Oops... I did not finish my post... Weewee, it made me shiver to hear of the hunting knife thing, lol... Hope you're kidding about that, LOL :O

I'm lucky I have very little body hair, so hair was no problem for me, but I would probably have used the skinning knife technique close to the stoma, but use this only if you are very good at sharpening knives, Stephen.

I'm lucky I have very little body hair, so hair was no problem for me, but I would probably have used the skinning knife technique close to the stoma, but use this only if you are very good at sharpening knives. Wounded, you used to be a knife thrower, and you're scared of knives? Stephen

Hehehe, yes, Wounded Doe, it's true. I used a skinning knife. My nurse said she wouldn't put it past me. I got tired of the hair around the stoma where the razors wouldn't reach because of the cover, and when using scissors, it left hair for the wax to pull on. When I have to change, the wax would pull out the hair, and sometimes when the wax got a really good hold on the skin, it was like getting a wax job. So, I just thought, well, I can skin an animal and I shave my face, what's to worry? Plus, it costs way less to sharpen my knife than to go and spend 15 dollars for the good razors, since I was given thick hair everywhere but on my head. Can you imagine going to a barber and asking for a close shave or going in and asking them to wax your butt hair?

Wow...all good stuff, my fellow baggers. The knife, OMG...steady hands, I guess, are key. As for the location of stoma placement, I was under the impression that the belt line determined stoma placement. My stoma is above my belt line, which sometimes is revealed under my shirt. At first, this was a downer; now, I am anxious for security to think I am stealing something from a store...because I'm running. I will give them the bag of goods when they catch me...thanks for all the good feedback on placement/stoma location...I will stick to razors and surgical scissors for hair removal. Hands are too shaky for a sharp knife. Maybe someday the docs will remove the hair before stoma placement. As the hairs next to the stoma cause leaks, and that is just bad stuff.

LOL... weewee and prvt-Idaho, you are so funny... weewee using his skinning knife like a barber and Prvt-Idaho prepared to give them the bag of goods... can't stop giggling... This is the type of humor that helps so many of us get through our days a little easier... :)

Yeah, prvt-idaho, when they ask what's under your shirt, you can tell them you have a big bag of shit and they are going to tell you to put it on the table. You can say, "Are you sure that's where you want me to put it?" or tell them you would rather wait for the cops. Then they're really going to look bad (LOL).

Weewee, we should not tell people what's in the bag... it would spoil the surprise. It's all good though... WOUNDED DOE, you are so correct in having a good attitude... life is so much better now than before... I am finally living! (without pain and mapping out bathroom locations) Now I only carry my portable porta potty—ziplock baggy and E.S.T. (emergency shit tickets = fast food napkins - they are free). Have a good day, all...

Thanks for the laughs today weewee and Prvt-Idaho!

They make these ladies' razors with a trimmer on one end. You could take the guard off and get very close to the stoma, and it wouldn't hurt your skin. I think mine is Gillette. It is indeed very annoying to have a stoma where you have hair, and I had an incontinent k-pouch for a while, and the stoma was very low, and I had to wear a bag and shave hair. I actually just used a razor on that, no problem. Sometimes leaving the flange on for too long made it more painful to take off. You could try changing it more often. I have a high stoma location too, pretty close to my BB, and the Coloplast flange I use lifts a little beside my BB, which is annoying, but I blow dry it for a while so it adheres better. I actually like having it higher up because I wear my bag over low-rise jeans, and then wear a Bella Band to cover it and keep the top of the bag flat against me. It's hard to tell I have a bag unless I'm wearing a white shirt or something. :) But I also don't care if people know about it or see it. Lol. It's just a convenient way to stay off the toilet!!

Who uses a trimmer, really!! Wow, how low is your stoma? Mine is just a few cm from my bellybutton, not anywhere near below. Hahaha, I see at our association that the men's are much higher, and I would hate mine to have been that high, but I think it's got something to do with the male dudes. LOL, sorry, just making me smile, but that I think is why men's are higher, so they can get a thingy :) mooza

I can't even find my belly button--wonder where it went. I'm a female and don't have to worry about hair there anyway. Does anybody have my belly button they don't need?

By the way, no questions asked for its return!!

Moosa, I have read some funny titles for different things on this site, but what is a thingy? And if it is what I think it is, how could the height of the stoma affect that? Must be the water in Melbourne, the Yarra, the only river in the world that flows upside down.

LZ, my surgeon said I have a pretty belly button, so she was extra careful going around mine in a perfect half-moon. Why are some surgeons so rude as to make our bodies look like Frankenstein?

Yukon, I wish I could say the same. When my stupid f**n surgeon did mine, he cut on the side where he put my ileo stoma. This kind of makes it hard for the adhesive to attach, like I would like. As far as the Frankenstein look, that's how I look too...LOL. Oh well, shit happens; now it happens in the bag.

Can you wear a bikini without a belly button? C'mon everybody, smile—it will make you feel good.

Um, to answer that question, no, I can't wear a bikini. I am not a cross-dresser.

Is this a Trivial Pursuit question, and what category? I'm stumped. Haha.

Lz, the least the surgeon could have done for you is put a hole so you could have a belly button ring. :)

Weewee, don't men have those really small suits? Bet you can't wear one of those either. They only go to just above the hairline. Isn't it wonderful how we have to change our clothing habits? At least I get to buy some new clothes—but I have to pass the bikinis. Can you put a belly button ring on the scar? Wouldn't that look good? Bikini, here I come!—only if you think it would look okay. Then I could maybe even have the scar tattooed. I think I have the problem solved. Yup, I'm going to look for a bikini! Now I have to think of what would look good as a tattoo. Any suggestions from weewee or anyone? Do I see any smiles on anybody's face? Hope so.