If you recently had an ostomy, you may wonder if you can get a good night’s sleep. The answer is yes, you can, and here, we’ll give you the best tips for falling also after you’ve had an ostomy.
Use Pillows
Pillows help a lot with comfort but putting pillows around your body is good for another reason. It stops you from rolling onto the pouch and having it either come loose, or possibly impact the contents and spilling out. That’s something you don’t’ want to deal with throughout the night, since it can impact the way that you sleep. So put some pillows there as a barrier to you. You can use big stuffed animals and blankets too if you don’t have enough pillows for the job.
Wear a Snug Shirt
I’m not saying wear something that’s so tight that you can’t breathe, but instead, put something on that does hug the body a little bit. This will keep the bag in place as you go to bed and sleep.. if it’s too much for you, and you don’t think you can handle it, consider trying out the ostomy belt, and from there, see if that will help to keep everything in place.
Sleep on the Back
If you’re a side or a tummy sleeper, this is one that’ll take a bit of time to get used to but sleeping on your back is your best option. This does prevent you from rolling over and then sleeping on the pouch as you’re asleep and offers a more comfortable sleeping experience for you after you’ve had an ostomy surgery. Again, this may not be easy for you to do right away but putting the pillows all around definitely will benefit you from this.
Check Pouch Condition
You also should check how full or empty the pouch is before you fall asleep. Why? If it’s too much, it’ll leak out while you sleep, disturbing you, and it can be a little bit gross. The best way to prevent that is to do it right before you go to bed, just do it shortly after brushing your teeth and whatnot, so you’re ready for bed without the disturbances.
Sleeping Arrangements
You may need to start sleeping differently in most cases. For those who have an urostomy, you usually have drainage that happens throughout the night, and you can use a night drainage to help with this. Usually, you don’t need to worry about changing this, and usually, it doesn’t impact the water or the liquids that you have prior to going to bed as well.
For a colostomy or ileostomy surgery, you might want to make sure the pouch is empty so there isn’t any overflow or leakage. You also may want to stop from eating anything too much right before bed, so that you don’t have to worry about too much output as you go to bed. You should also talk to your healthcare provider for any other tips that can help you go to sleep, and also any dietary and other liquid changes that go along with this. When you have an ostomy, it can be hard for you to get used to this and get the sleep that you deserve. But you do deserve to get on the proper sleep schedule that you can, and by seeing a professional to help with this and to make sure that you get the right sleep situation put in place, it can ultimately help you with doing this as well, especially down the line as well.
