Managing Ostomy Pouch Smells: Seeking Advice

I keep reading about this very personal issue regarding the distressing problem for stomates all over the world.....smell! Yep, we've all had it or have it, it's not the first time and won't be the last. I think it's safe to say that this smell has become part of our lives and we all more or less agree that it is a more intense experience than it was before surgery. I am just 12 months into my ostomy journey and I've read so many difficult to live with situations that deal solely with the dreaded smell, the bloody thing is alive you know and waits for the best time to ruin your day! There isn't any smart formula to help so we all have to grin and bear it with the hope that a stomate can and usually does show a way forward.

Now I'd like to ask a question, yes it's about the smell. I don't think I have yet read about how and where people wrap or keep used pouches until it's convenient to dispose of them and how do you manage the smell in the meantime. Let me explain the predicament as I try to work around it.

I live in the UK in Yorkshire and we are told by the hospital staff and any other governing body that our used shitful pouches must be disposed of in our normal household waste bin, there is no medical collection strategy to dispose of them. Well that in itself is ok isn't it, until you actually start to physically process the day-to-day routine involved and then the plot thickens day by day doesn't it. Now because my colostomy produces almost normal output I am recommended to use closed pouches of which I use on average 2 per day and that of course is 60 per month. My bags are quite full after use and I at first started as usual by putting them in the black plastic bags and tying a knot, then into the 'in-house' kitchen bin. Well that was a great idea.. I stunk the friggin' kitchen out and couldn't eat my vittles. I went straight out and bought a lovely, nicely designed container made specially made for the collection of and further disposal of the bags when full with estimated 15 knotted black bags. These bags were also further protected from allowing any permeating smell by passing into an internal larger bag through nicely fitting strong rubber flaps. I increased the anti-smell properties of this rig by spraying my best male 'kill every smell on earth' spray and proceeded to add the mounting daily portions of my much-coveted shit and kept it in my wardrobe out of sight, hoho, that sorted the problem out, didn't it? Woohooo!!

No.. it pissin' didn't, I had to wash my sodding shirts and beg my family not to section me for having the brain of a gnat! Right, gloves off and slipped quietly into SAS mode, reassessed, then decided on another approach to double knot each bag, all to no avail. Depression now started to set in when I finally broke through and started to double knot the bags as before and then double bagging each of these individual bags and finished by double knotting each of the double-bagged bags. Incredible don't you think? Turned myself around and won the day! No such luck, the problem is insurmountable without bomb-proof black bags, or I'm too bloody stupid to expect to beat the dreaded smell.

The whole of this is perfectly true and it is totally beyond me to understand how a simple shit smell can find its way through so many layers of plastic within a few days and it's a strong smell after all that. I might add that since then I have tried emptying the pouches of about 95% of the bag contents before going through the same performance as before without success and the reason I try to do this is because I have a dread that our outside trash bins which are the wheelie type and are susceptible to blowing over in the wind and spreading our 60 bags of adorable trash all over the road. We live high in the Penine Range and have high winds.

Just because they say you can use closed pouches doesn't mean you have to. I've been told the same but I use drainable bags. So, instead of 60 bags a month, I use about 7 or 8 because I change my bags out about every 4 days. On bag change day, I empty/rinse the bag out as normal before taking it off so there isn't much in the bag when I dispose of it in the trash. I put it in a small trash bag, tie it up, and throw it in the trash can in my garage. No smell, way less trash than using closed pouches, and you don't always need to carry a bag with you in case you have to empty.

Hi Alex, do you know whether any of the companies sell convex drainable bags as my stoma sits on top of a natural mound and has since its birth, no hernia just a mound.

I dispose of my black knotted bags into my black general waste bin on my drive. I do not keep them in the house. You are in the UK, don't you have recycling bins collected by your local council?

Hello Briutz.

Thank you for an interesting and somewhat entertaining read about your problems with smell and the disposing of your bags.

When you mentioned that you had a colostomy, the first thought that sprang to mind was irrigation. If you are a suitable candidate, then irrigation could be the answer to all of the problems you mention in your post.

The other thing that sprang to mind was that in the early days of my stoma, the local council offered me the option of having a personal ‘clinical-waste’ system of disposal.

This involves a yellow bin which is collected on a regular basis, separately to the ‘normal’ waste collections. 
I declined their offer because, as an irrigator, I have virtually no need for any special arrangements. All my waste gets flushed down the toilet and there is practically no smell from the devices that I use to manage the needs of my stoma because it all gets dealt with at the time of irrigation.

Another story from my past also springs to mind when thinking about personal waste disposal and living in a less-than-civilised area of the country. (without mains sewerage)  At one stage we lived in a house with no flushing toilet. The loo was a large bucket housed in a shed in the garden and I had the chore of emptying it twice per week.

We had a very helpful/informative (old and experienced) neighbour, who had been in the same position all his life. He explained the technique of having a continuous trench in the garden, into which the slurry was poured and subsequently covered up so that it did not smell. When one trench was completed, another would be started parallel to the first and it was calculated that it would have taken between 20 &30 years to run out of space and have to re-dig over ground that had previously been used. This technique also involved growing brassicas (most notably brussel sprouts) on the ‘fertilised’ ground because brassicas were noted to take the rich nutrients from the soil and convert them into usable food.  By the time all the virgin soil had been utilised, any remnants of the ‘fantastic-fertiliser’ would be long-gone and one could confidently start again from the beginning.

This method worked very well until I eventually connected us to the mains-sewer. However, I have never forgotten how well the old system worked and how magnificent was the crop of brassicas grown in that medium. If I ever found myself in that position again I would not hesitate to revert to the old ways again.

Best wishes

Bill  

I have an ileostomy and use drainable bags so I don't have your problem.

I often read on a UK colostomy group a lot members use a Tommee Tippee nappy disposal bin and Aldi do their own version. They recommend them as well, they say they're good but I have no experience of using them myself.

Hi Bill, thanks for the advice. I've recently been thinking about irrigation, and I have a telephone appointment booked in two weeks with one of the stoma nurses. I intend to have irrigation as one of my issues.

Take care, Bill.

I am with Alex here. I don't see why you need to use closed pouches. Filling up the landfill with all those used pouches just seems unnecessary and wasteful. You can get any kind of drainable pouch you want, including convex, which is what I use. I can't imagine changing my pouch twice daily. Your life would be so much easier with drainable pouches. I change my pouch every six days. I always empty prior to changing and then put the used pouch into its own plastic kitchen bag and seal with a well-twisted twist tie, and into the kitchen garbage it goes. I have a pretty sensitive sense of smell and have never detected anything from the kitchen garbage. The rare time I have detected a smell it was because something had gone awry, i.e., a leak is happening or is about to happen, and I'm happy to have the warning!

Terry

I use disposable flushable liners! You line the pouch and flush the liner in the toilet. And insert it every time there is waste. There can be a slight smell but still not as strong because the actual pouch itself is not filled with waste. There is still some residue left on the flange, I use the 2 pouch, but when I change out the liner I clean around that area, insert a new one in the pouch. And when I change out the pouch I put the old pouch in a bag, spray with bleach or Lysol and double knot it. I think I will start rinsing that off now that I've seen that from someone.

This seems to work for me! Good luck!

Hi lovewins, it seems to me that I haven't looked well enough into the available options to lower the amount of waste and used bags. I will definitely have a re-evaluation on the problems involved.

Yet another reason for me to "just say no" to Brussels sprouts. Cents. JB

Yes, I am constantly online looking for resources. The disposable liner bags I get them from a company called Parthenon, order them online.

Hi B

I think you are doing this the hard way. I would suggest using a drainable bag, into a small rubbish bag, then into the rubbish bin. Also, all manufacturers make a convex drainable.

Axl

I'm pretty sure most companies do, if not all of them.

You seem to have got a lot of useful tips and advice so no need for me to add. I did, however, LOL at your Yorkshire twang. Love it. Thanks for making me laugh. xx

Caz... Me too! Love a good chuckle - thanks for sharing Bruitz. Hope you can find an answer for your stink, stank, stunk problem.

Hi everyone, thanks everyone for all the help and useful information, great place for getting it all out there, sorry though I think the bar's closed.

Hi all, I use ziplock bags for my used pouches and take them out to the garbage can after I'm all done.

Quite possibly you set the "bar" too high.

Hi Justbreathe, ill drink to that but in all seriousness I'm sure your right, I got so involved in beating the bloody problem that I didn't want to give in, ( usual hard headed shit for brains! ) anyway, moving on with me 'ed in the clouds I have to say that only one train of thought has left with me with just one overwhelming conclusive answer... ahaaa!!.. now ..you see JB, the whole world may know the answer but I've had to work long hours by candlelight with quantum mathematics to see the light.

I have realised that cheap, thin plastic bags must be to some degree porous. Ohoo .. I can't believe I just shared that, we'll keep that between you and I before they lock me up. Onward an' upwards JB, best wishes.

First thing I do is wash my face to eliminate all the fecal particles that I smelled when I change my appliance.

Most grocery store available plastic baggies, ziplock, etc. are made from porous film, thus allowing oxygen in and out and that wonderful smell to permeate your nostrils.

Medical plastic is treated to deal with volatile chemicals, have a high tensile strength, and resist abrasion.

I know Hollister includes "Ostomy disposal Bags" with the drainable pouches (I use 2 piece) which I have never smelled once used. I have seen them for sale at 25 for 100 bags. It's a decent price if you use the 2 piece drainable system.

Good luck to you! I look forward to learning how you beat this. :-)

Huh? None of that makes sense. Washing your face? You guys must have some smelly poop if you can smell it through a Ziplock. And why, if using drainable bags, would you not rinse it out before changing it, leaving it basically odor-free. You don't just take a bag full of poop off and change it, or at least I hope people don't. I use drainable Hollister 1 piece and they don't come with disposable bags. This isn't rocket science we're dealing with.

Hi Dogen, sorry to be blunt, but getting fecal particles on your face just from smell is nonsense. If you flush the toilet while still sitting on it, there can be an aerosol effect that will contaminate areas of the body in contact with it, i.e., butt cheeks, thighs, but we are just talking about the smell emanating from removing your pouch, cleaning and changing it. You really don't need to wash your face, unless you are touching it while doing your change! We ostomates have enough to worry about.

Terry

I think you need to think a little bit more and work out that if you leave full bags of shit in your kitchen waste then yes it will smell. Take them outside. But the correct way is as AlexT said that at the start, use a two-piece and empty into the toilet and rinse out then close up and carry on. You will only use 1/4 of what you use now. Hollister do a very good convex two-piece but it sounds to me you have not had any informative talks with a stoma nurse. Regards, IGGIE

The entire point of washing your face, as recommended by my stoma nurse, was to help when the smell is overwhelming, especially at the start of this journey.

It may be nonsense to you, but it helped me get through it in the beginning.

:-)

Far be it from me to question anything that has helped you in your journey! If washing your face helps you deal with the smell, great! I just thought from your previous comments that you were implying fecal contamination got onto your face from the smell. My apologies if I offended you in any way. We are all just trying to do the best we can and offer advice if we think it may help.

Cheers,

Terry

Hi there,

So I bought a Diaper Genie... I have an ileostomy but when I do my bag changes, which is every 2 days, I go through damn near two full boxes of gauze each change (she always rolls)... all of that is in a bag which gets tied then goes into the Diaper Genie. Haven't had any problems with odor at all...

No offense taken! This is a hard subject and that we can openly discuss this is perfect!

Thank you for your input!

Well, I am pleased that everyone here has the strength of character to say it just as they see it whenever these questions are asked. In my case, I take absolutely no offense to any answers given, and I'm truly humbled by the response to me personally. Unfortunately, though, in my neck of the woods, it does happen to be the genuine solid standard instruction from the hospital staff, the very much appreciated Stoma Nurses, and any other officially competent person we would value any advice from, to wear closed bags for colostomy patients. When the bag has then topped itself up, we're told, you simply take off the bag and dispose of it by putting it into the black stoma bag and into our normal household waste bin for subsequent removal. I have to admit that I was very surprised by this, but it is not a crude dastardly way to deal with this waste; it is the correct accepted procedure. This is also the correct way for us to dispose of dog poo and used cat litter for inclusion in landfill and is accepted as safe by local government officialdom. In my post, I did say that I had started to empty my bags by about 95%, but I had to achieve this by forcing everything out of the bag, back through my 30mm stoma hole. If anyone wants to try squeezing the lovely semi-stiff, stick-to-anything-within-range appalling shite from hell, be my guest, but make sure you bathe in Gorgonzola cheese and a bucket of pigswill before starting the evening meal.

Best wishes and thanks to all, be back soon.

You are a hoot! Love your descriptions.... I do however question your explanation of "rule following"

I find "officially competent person" to be an oxymoron....oh ya maybe on a rare occasion you might run into one of these beings - but in my experience, as a general rule of thumb I must disagree.