Osto-EZ Review -

Osto-EZ Review

The Osto-Ez Vent is a little plastic valve that attaches to your ostomy pouch to allow you to release built up gas from ballooning.

Introduction

Ballooning is an issue that can keep you at home. Especially if you are wearing a one piece ostomy pouch.

When Barb first got her stoma, her output was always very liquidy and not much gas. Some call it wind, some call it air. Let’s be real, here, its gas. But when she started to produce gas and lots of it, the only way to release is was to pull down your pants or lift up your skirt exposing the bag and holding the outlet up towards you, so that your bag is in a U shape, open the outlet and slowly press down on the bag so that only the air is expelled. This is all well and fine except that getting poop all over everything was a common occurrence. But for Barb it was worse as she did not have the use of her left hand after the surgery. Not releasing the gas in the bag could blows up and make you look like you have a blimp in your pants or could even blow off completely (blow-out). Let alone, where could she actually do this in public. The recourse was to constantly be looking for public washroom.

Now consider that that the average human passes gas 14 times a day, but Ostomates have virtually no control over farting, yes, I said it, farting. There has to be a way to “burp the bag”. Many of stoma bags have charcoal filters that deodorize as it allows the escape of gas but these can easily become blocked with moisture from inside the bag. That is the case with Barb’s pouches.

Dealing with day-to-day ballooning

There are products such as ostomy or hernia support pants like Comfizz, these pants or belts will hide any ballooning under your clothes without compromising the bag. But if too tight can actually force the gas under the baseplate, resulting in a blow-out.

A common home remedy is peppermint tea which is a good preventative measure for when you are feeling gassy or like you have trapped wind. A cup of this seems to disperse the gas without it coming out via the bag. If you can’t stand the taste of peppermint tea then peppermint capsules are available and just as effective.

Thankfully though, I found a cool little plastic valve that is especially useful to the ostomates wearing a one piece pouch, it is called Osto-Ez Vent from Kem Enterprises. Kem recently redesigned the vent to ease opening and closing.

How to Apply

To use the Osto-Ez Vent, you need stick the vent on to the outer plastic lining of your pouch. Placement is a personal item. Your will need to experiment. In Barbs, situation, she uses two-piece pouch with a built-in filter. But hers gets corrupted quickly. So placing at the top over the existing filter would sometimes allow poop or other liquid to escape through the vent. Also, if your pouch has an opaque liner, you need to cut some of that away first.

With the Osto-Ez Vent in place you simply need to poke a hole into the plastic lining of your pouch into the Osto-Ez Vent. With that done, make sure the cap on your new vent is closed and you are ready to re-apply your pouch if you’ve removed it, or yet to apply it, or if applying it externally with the pouch in place already then you are good to go. I pre-make a couple boxes of pouches in advance for Barb so she only needs to pull one out and she’s ready to go.

How to Use

Using the Osto-Ez Vent quite simple. As the pouch fills with gas you just flip the valve open, let the air out, and firmly close it.

One thing to note is that these do not filter the gas. So, if your gas is, well, gassy, then that will be released as well. A solution for this problem is to add deodorizing drops into the pouch, use an “Internal Deodorant” or use an effective deodorizing spray. I review several of these in another post.

Whether you use a pouch deodorant or not it is best to empty the gas sooner rather than later so it doesn’t have time to fester in your pouch. So, dont wait until its ready to blow off and cause a scene!

Where to Get Them

There are many outlets to get the Kem Enterprises Osto-Ez Vent. Ebay, Amazon and a host of distributors. The prices vary WILDLY. If you are paying more than $14US for 10 vents, you are paying too much. Also, consult with your doctor and insurance company because with a script from you doctor, they may be covered.