I’ve had my stoma since 2017 and it’s been great however the one issue I still encounter is I’m quite hairy. This means I’m having to shave around the stoma every 4-5 days and this can often lead to the hair follicles becoming inflamed/infected.
How do other people deal with this issue. Has anyone gone for hair removal treatments?
I just use a women’s electric bikini shaver each time I change my stuff. Gets it really close but not so close that I get any issues.
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Thats why I stopped shaving to many problems from ingrowing hairs most of us get the same problem after a number of years shaving around stoma.
My stoma nurse said the best thing for hair removal would be threading but no one would ever go near a stoma to do it so the next best thing was hair removal cream I used that for a while did a great job my skin was so smooth but found it to time consuming to be bothered with (if you do go down the hair removal cream route try it on the opposite side of your stomach a few days before to make sure you have no allergies to it).
Now I just pop a few hairs out with tweezers every bag change find it very therapeutic and hairs are slower growing back.
I've seen lots of people ask over the years about laser hair removal but never seen anyone say they've had it done I would advice asking your stoma nurse about that as if it was safe to be done I would only trust a highly trained and skilled surgeon to go anywhere near my stoma very much doubt any reputable beauty saloons would go anywhere near a stoma they would need very expensive specialist insurance incase anything went wrong.
Having an ileostomy finally makes me happy about the unhairy Scandinavian half of me. I had to shave for the first few months. But over time, all those follicles have been torn asunder. 😎
I use an electric trimmer, then small precision scissors to cut hairs that are very close to my stoma. This system works good for me.
A disposable razor, and if they're right at the edge of the stoma, tweezers, but I'm not a gorilla 🦍
G-Day Ostomates, Anyone getting ready for a Stoma, before the operation go get a real heir removal job done by a professional. You will thank me after. Do it before the operation. Regards IGGIE
I use a small electric trimmer. Seems to do the job okay but I am not all that hairy so I don’t have much to trim.
Good luck!
I stopped shaving with blades about 2 years ago with my surgeons encouragement. Like some of the other good folks here a I use an electric trimmer. It's a cheapie, about 10 dollars in USA. No more ingrown hairs and the problems they cause. No more nicks, cuts and fear of bleeding to death. It's certainly worth a try.
Respectfully,
Mike