Showering with an ostomy is the same as showering without one. Whether you want to shower with your pouch on or off is totally up to you and is the same across all ostomy types.
The pouches are made to withstand water and should be fine getting wet. If you shower with your pouch on, you canuse a blow dryer on a low/cool setting to help your skin, the baseplate and the pouch dry more quickly. Making sure this gets completely dry is good for your skincare, as moist skin under your baseplate can easily get a yeast infection or other skin irritation, neither of which are fun to deal with.
If you choose to shower with your pouch off, remember that your ostomy doesn’t care if you have a pouch on or not and you could find yourself pooping in the shower. As you learn your body’s digestive flow, you might be able to time your showers for when your stoma is least likely to function, but it’s no guarantee. It doesn’t matter if water touches your stoma, but it’s better if you don’t have the shower head spray directly at it with firm pressure. You won’t get water inside your stoma because the peristalsis (bowel motion) pushes things out, not in.
Be gentle when washing the skin around your stoma. If you choose to use a soap, use one that is not oily and does not leave any residue. Having oils or residue left on your skin makes putting your next ostomy pouch on a real challenge, since it won’t want to stick!
Using a blow dryer on the cool setting afterward helps dry the skin and closes the pores, so your body will stop generating heat and moisture under your baseplate once you put it on, as this can make for an insecure seal.
If you like to shower with your ostomy pouch off, but are traveling in a foreign country, it is suggested that you skip this and keep your pouch on, as foreign water hitting your stoma could make you sick.
If you have wounds still healing, talk to your doctor to make sure you have the “ok” to shower.