Large parastomal hernia and support bands

Hello all. My husband had a colostomy at the beginning of December 2021 to remove the primary tumor of his stage 4 bowel cancer. He had had ulcerative colitis for years.

Despite our best efforts to avoid it, he has already developed a large parastomal hernia. It is perfectly symmetrical and makes him look like an upside-down breakfast bowl has been pushed under his skin with the stoma in the center of the base of the upside-down bowl. Does that make sense? I will post a picture if that is allowed and my husband will let me! I would say that the hernia is 8 inches across and sticks out 3 inches. It aches miserably. He will see a surgeon again but in the meantime has been trying the belt recommended by the stoma nurse which is a solid band of elastic with "boning" in it. It is a Suportx firm easy peel belt.

The trouble is, however carefully worn (it was measured for professionally), it makes my husband's bag leak with disastrous and embarrassing consequences.

We are thinking about trying to buy a belt with a hole for the bag or cutting a hole in his existing belt. 

Does anyone have any personal recommendations for such a belt? I can see various when I search online but have no idea if they are any good. The Brava Ostomy Support Belt has caught my eye, but I don't know why!

I'd be so grateful for your wisdom. Thank you!

Wow…I am trying to visualize the belt you are referring to ….does it not have a hole in it for the bag?  My surgeon wrote on a prescription sheet the type of hernia belt to go buy at a local medical supply store.  It was EVER SO WRONG !  Totally would have smooshed my stoma and caused bag contents to evacuate in some alternate route  - I don't even think the stoma could function with the pressure that belt would have caused!!!  I told the person at the medical store - No thank you - I don't believe that is the correct belt for me (even tho is was written down on prescription note paper).  That's when I learned how valuable a stoma nurse is !

I think that a SASH belt is what is required. It has a plastic collar which has a hole for the bag to go through. They are made to measure for the size of your bag and waist with a couple of inches adjustment using Velcro fixing. I have been using one for over ten years. They are on the NHS approved list. The company that makes them is called Sash Medical it's based in Essex England I think you will find more contact details on line. Best of luck with your problem. Elwick of Bexley

i also ended up with a peristomal hernia which is indeed painful and i made a support belt that does a fair job of supporting the appliance and keeps some pressure on the herniated area while still allowing the output to flow. i am including the instructional i made that may, or may not help. it is fairly easy to construct and im sure others will be able to improve on my initial design. if you are so mind to, you can try to make one for the specific purpose your S.O.'s needs. a good fit is imperative so as to not cause the stoma to prolapse. i already made one trip to ER because of a prolapse. i have only had mine since august last year and am in process of getting repairs done to deal with the hernia. i feel for him because i know what it is to hurt and not get relief. best of luck

Hello there, is this what you are looking for ?

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32889045637.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.21ab65f2msjZ3N&algo_pvid=f0eb80c0-35d1-4ce8-a492-b593a70a31f9&algo_exp_id=f0eb80c0-35d1-4ce8-a492-b593a70a31f9-12&pdp_ext_f=%7B%22sku_id%22%3A%2265700758871%22%7D&pdp_pi=-1%3B14.17%3B-1%3B-1%40salePrice%3BAUD%3Bsearch-mainSearch

Thank you very much. I'll look into that right away!

That's definitely the sort of thing we're thinking of. I just don't know which one to get. I don't want to make matters worse. I am really appreciating the advice in this thread.

I have one of these amongst other styles but I really don't use it as I have no abdominal issues. I was just exploring options for mild exercising, they're dirt cheap and quite sturdy, it's good to have options.

Axl

I went to a stoma nurse at our local hospital and she measured me then I ordered it thru Med180.