Stoma Problems - Wind
Help - I have excessive wind with my stoma!
Avoiding excessive wind
Wind is a normal product of digestion, whether you have a stoma or not, but ostomates may be more sensitive to passing wind as they have no control over it. The following tips may be worth trying if you suffer from excessive wind:
- Eat regular meals in a relaxed environment
- Eat slowly and chew food thoroughly
- Try not to talk too much as you eat or to gulp food down as you may swallow more air
- Avoid fizzy drinks
- Add peppermint essence (available from the chemist) to hot water and sip slowly
- Drink peppermint or fennel tea
Everyone reacts differently to particular foods, and there are no one-size rules for all, but there are particular foods which are more commonly known to cause wind. If you are having a problem with wind and are eating any of the foods from the list below, you may want to try excluding them and then reintroducing them one by one to see if they might be causing you issues:
- Green vegetables such as cauliflower, sprouts, beans, cabbage, peas
- Sweetcorn
- Baked beans
- Onions
- Garlic
- Mushrooms
- Cucumber
- Root vegetables such as parsnip, swede, turnip
- High fibre starchy foods such as wholemeal bread and wholegrain cereals
- Fizzy drinks including beer
- Chewing gum
Products to help with wind and ballooning
Unless fitted with an appropriate filter, wind can cause stoma bags to balloon. The Aura range of stoma bags, Aura Stoma Cap and our Wound Manager bags are fitted with the Dual-Carb®2 filter or the Dual-Carb®i filter for ileostomy bags for more effective reduction of ballooning. Find out more and request a free sample here.
Other nutritional advice sections available:
Video transcript
close transcriptHow can I reduce excessive wind from my stoma?
If you got a lot of wind in your stoma bag, we firstly would look at your diet to see if there's any cause for that. We know things like baked beans and green vegetables would cause a lot of wind, fizzy drinks as well, so you would try and avoid or reduce the amount of those that you're eating. You may also want to try some peppermint oil capsules or peppermint tea to see if that will relieve the wind. Some people find if they have bio yogurt that helps to improve your digestion which can reduce wind.