The consultant came by today and taught me how to put it back in. He seems to think it will be a "when it happens again", rather than an "if it happens again." He things I might have a hernia. He didn't mention the sugar trick though - I'm very intrigued, so if/when it happens again I'll have to try that!
In case anyone finds this happens to them, the doctor's advice was to lie on your back and breathe deeply for several minutes - this may be enough to make it go back in on its own. If not, just push it back. Stop if it hurts, and call a doctor. If it doesn't hurt, keep pushing it until it's back to normal, but then keep a close eye on it to make sure it's functioning, and call a doctor if there's no output for longer than is normal for you, or if you experience pain or vomiting. Avoid further prolapses by avoiding using your stomach muscles as much as possible - if your stoma's prone to prolapsing, you'll be pushing it in a lot if you do much bending or lifting. So it's a great excuse not to do housework and to get people fetching and carrying for you.
(Yes, the doctor said this.
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When it looked online I found some sites that say surgery may be necessary if prolapses keep recurring, though since it's not dangerous I'm not sure why this would be the case - unless some people get to a point where it's just popping out so often it's just not feasible to keep pushing it back in every time?
My previous stoma contracted inwards and needed surgery to correct it - does anyone think the contraction and prolapse are related? I.e. do I have a predisposition to stomas going in and out where they shouldn't? Before I had a stoma my rectum prolapsed several times, and had to be surgically corrected.
