Gas and odour can be highly embarrassing and deter you from leaving the house. A person living with an ostomy should not feel they have an odour. If your ostomy is smelling, your ostomy appliance is not fitting correctly, and you are leaking. Sometimes this leak is not visible, and the gas escapes under the flange. See your ostomy nurse for help in troubleshooting this problem.

Gas is normal, and all people produce gas. When you have a fecal ostomy, gas is captured in the pouch, making it more noticeable as it balloons up. Many ostomy pouches have a slow-release filter built-in; however, these do not always work, especially if you have an ileostomy, as the stool is too liquid and the filter blocks.

Tips for managing gas

• Avoid straws and fizzy drinks; this includes beer.
• Eat and drink slowly to avoid swallowing lots of air.
• Decrease foods that increase gas – diet section or elect to eat them when not going out.
• Consider taking a gas-breaking-up medication like Beano before eating.
• Some two-piece ostomy products can be burped to release the gas. E.g., Hollister and Convatec
• An Add-on Filter can be added to the pouch before application. These filters do not have charcoal to manage the odour and require application and opening to release the gas.