If you have a Bag, can you still go swimming and scuba dive?

[borderholic]

I love the water, and my entire family received our Scuba certification when we were on vacation. If I end up with a bag, are you still able to go into the water?

 

[2thFairy]

YES! You might have to change your bag sooner after getting out of the water because the adhesive may not want to stick to your skin after prolonged exposure to water, but you can do everything with a bag. (Hooray!)

There are adhesive extenders you can put on the bag before getting in the water that will also help, plus other tricks of the trade, but short answer is yes, you can go in the water.

 

[borderholic]

Wow, thanks for your response. That is great news.

 

[nogutsnoglory]

I am always worried about needing a bag too. Do people with the bags wear a shirt over to the pool? How does that work?

 

[Jim (POPS)]

YES, you can swim with a bag, my wife does it al the time and when I had mine I did also. I don't know about diving though. The deeper you go the bigger the bag will get and if you go to deep, BANG, the bag would popand there would be Poo all over, the fish might like it. lol

Jim (Pops)

 

[robbo87]

I go swimming once a week now. I wear a rash shirt sort of thing for going in the pool with, looks a bit like something you'd wear to go snorkelling in! but it does the job, sometimes I just wear my short's high up to cover everything up but I find it more comfortable wearing the shirt rather than having my short's high up. although you can buy high waisted ones.

 

[Samboi]

I have an outdoor spa and take very regular dips in it!
I put a little tag over the bag filter and jump on in.
I wear a singlet to cover it all up.
I've also been swimming in the ocean when in Cambodia last year.
Nobody even noticed my Stoma!

 

[nogutsnoglory]

Does anyone have the nerve to go in shirtless for men or bikini for women with the bag exposed? What are people's reactions? Is it ever possible to remove the bag for a few hours?

 

[Nyx]

I can take my bag off for a few hours, but I have colostomy, not an ileostomy, so my stoma tends to be more predictable. Also, if anything decides to come out, it's not all liquidy so I can catch it if I have to...lol

 

[elrafantas]

I had a temporary stoma for 8 months. Swimming was OK but once I went in the sauna and steam room. Afterwards the bag felt a bit weird like the heat was starting to melt it off. I thought "meh, it'll be fine" thinking of how when I had a hot bath it always made it more sticky. Half an hour later I was in the middle of a restaurant and I felt a trickle across my stomach...I went to the toilet and half the bag had come off me! Ooooops. I did quite a bit of swimming (without sauna etc) after this event, and it was absolutely fine. My friends said they couldn't see the bag through my swimming costume at all, not that I really gave a shit

 

[nogutsnoglory]

A woman can wear a one piece swimsuit though. What do men do? We normally don't wear a shirt to the pool.

 

[elrafantas]

Oops sorry nogutsnoglory, I missed your post. I think there are special shorts you can get to hide it when swimming. I remember them in my ostomy products catalogue!

 

[2thFairy]

A woman can wear a one piece swimsuit though. What do men do? We normally don't wear a shirt to the pool.

Depends on the placement of the stoma. Some stomas are low enough that standard swim trunks hid the entire thing, and with some, just the top little bit might stick out. If you have a colostomy, there are mini bags and caps that you can wear that just cover the opening. Ileostomies are too unpredictable and therefore the caps won't work.

 

[annawato]

You could always wear a rash vest - many people wear them for sun protection so it wouldn't look odd.

 

[Melindar413]

Yes I go swimming I don't know about diving though. I've had my Ileostomy for 10 years now and I always wear an Ostomy belt but I have a couple of them I set aside to use for the pool or taking showers and I use clear plastic wrap around myself under the clothes if going to the pool and use waterproof medical tape to seal it then after I'm done I take the wrap off and blow dry my bag with a blow dryer on the cool setting and use cloth medical tape to tape the edges or picture frame it as they say just make sure the bag is not too worn down from too much water exposure if it is then just change it all together to avoid leaks later on. I hope this tip will help someone, I know it works for me. Take care and stay well!

 

[Jaano711]

A rash vest, sun shirt is the best option for guys I would think, or you could go the whole hog and wear a wetsuit. I know my husband and sons always wear rash vests when we go to the beach, or are in our swimming pool. It is also sunsafe to wear them.

I'm not sure where you are from, but i can tell you that it is very common to see males in Australia wearing them at the beach or the pool.

 

[Yupitsme]

I've been swimming, ( or looking like a swimmer lol i'm not a great swimmer to be honest) As a female, I actually just bought this high waisted two piece from american apparel for a trip. We can wear two pieces dependent on the location, i never felt comfortable just baring it all even before my stoma, so i always wore a sarong. Thats what i'll do if i get the courage to wear the two piece.

For men i've seen men just pull their shorts up, not urkle like drawstring helps.

I've read that you can't do deep sea diving because the bag will enlarge, but i've also read you can do like the shallow scuba diving that they do on vacations. I haven't had the courage to try yet