Ostomy odour

Ostomy odour – what causes it, foods that control it and products that actually help

Those of us with ostomies face a challenge and that challenge is, how to cope with the smell that Satan himself would steer clear of.

Having an ostomy is life-saving and gives us a better quality of life, but do you find yourself avoiding certain foods due to the unearthly stench these foods cause? Do you worry about what people will think entering the bathroom after you?

I have been testing ostomy deodorisers now for a while. This post will be listing sprays & drops I have been either using or testing over the last six months.

What foods cause ostomy odour?

Below is a lists of foods that cause odour, along with those that can help to neutralise the smell coming out.

What can you use to help with the smells, if trying to control it with diet doesn’t help?

Here are a few I have tried and tested, with my honest opinions on those.

OstoMist Spray

The Ostomist comes in five different scents. It can be sprayed directly into the pouch or into the air to neutralise the odour. It gets rid of the odour rather than mask it, which is brilliant. I have to say my favourite is the blackberry. These can be used in urostomies as well as ileostomy & colostomy bags. I find that 2-3 sprays directly into the bag lasts me all day. I rate these as impressive 7/10

OstoMist Drops

I hadn’t previously tried the drops, so for me they are a complete game changer. These come in three scents and they are in a dripper bottle, so easy to apply into the stoma bag. I love the Gardenia and Jasmine ones and found that you only need to use once a day to help control the odour coming out. I just place 1-2 drops into the pouch. These can be used in any type of ostomy appliance. I rate these 8/10

Tips for those that may not wish to use Deodorisers:

I have been running polls across social media to see what others use to eliminate odour.

Here are a few of the things that were mentioned:

• Mint Tic tacs
• Trebor strong mints
• Peppermint tea
• Peppermint tablets
• Polos
• Essential oils
• Bleach/peroxide
• Charcoal

I am not too sure about some of the above mentioned, as I would be worried that the products would compromise the pouch. My best advice would be to ask your stoma nurse, or try samples of the deodorisers rather than putting bleach into ones appliance.

The polls also revealed how many do and don’t use Deodorisers. I was quite surprised with the results.

Out of 201 people who took part across social media, 41% of people do use a deodoriser and 59% don’t.

For any of you wishing to find out more, or to order these products, please click on the links above.

Many thanks for reading,

Louise X