Physical Activity After Ostomies

After you get an ostomy, you may wonder if you can still be physically active. While you can’t really do much right after, usually after about 6-8 weeks you can start getting cleared for this, but what about lifting and other exercises? Let’s find out. 

Lifting weights after Ostomy 

You can lift weights after your ostomy, but only after the doctor approves. You will need to start off pretty low in weight and be mindful. Your body will probably struggle at first, but it may be easier if you had Crohn’s disease because that can cause malnutrition.  That malnutrition does cause fatigue, weight loss, and other things.  Usually after an ostomy, you’ll have energy, a better diet, and much more energy. 

 

  You may not be able to lift as much as you did before, and you may find that energy will come slowly but surely after you heal, so you may have more strength than before.  Also be mindful that you probably do need to wait for the abdominals to heal before lifting too heavy and then overworking them. 

Running with an Ostomy 

You usually can do this once the doctor okays it. But you will need to ease into this pretty slowly. One thing that some people worry about is the pouch loosening and leaking, and while that’s a worry, there are products that aid with this. You probably will need to walk for a few minutes, and then run for one minute, and do intervals for a little bit. An ostomy belt is recommended, since this can help prevent leaks when you start to get back into lifting and running while having an ostomy. 

Yoga and ostomies 

If you were doing yoga before surgery, you probably know by now that you feel different kinds of intensity after certain yoga positions. For instance, Hatha yoga is much better to begin with than Bikram yoga which involves being in a hot room where you’re constantly moving around. You should discuss this with your doctor before you sign up for your next exercise class. You should ensure that the incision sites are healed, and your abdominal muscles have recovered. Remember when you start with this, you probably aren’t going to be as good as you were before, but you can definitely start out easy. A lot of people prefer wearing wraps or other layers when doing this.  Most ostomy-b barriers are resistant to weather, but you may want to secure the bag when doing this. 

Swimming with an ostomy 

You can totally go back to doing laps at the pool once you’ve been cleared by the doctor to get started. You want to try slow-paced types of swimming to start, since it does improve the strength. You may worry about leakage, or if someone will see it in the suit, but there are options. You can get different wraps, swimwear, and other types of clothing to hide this as well. You’ll probably want to cover the ostomy pouch anyways when swimming since you don’t’ want to let water in and bloat it. 

Usually, ostomy pouches along with skin barriers tend to be water-resistant and will usually offer a good hold towards the skin. You also may want to consider barrier strips, a mini pouch with filter, or a closed-end pouches. And there you have it, there’s a lot of options for those with an ostomy, and you can still be active. Just wait until your doctor gives you the okay before jumping right in and doing this though, to help keep you nice and healthy too.