You can see this barrier is thicker and more rigid, therefore the border is not as flat or flexible to the skin. The Ceramide is nice to the skin and helps clear up irritation and protect against further breakdown. However, this barrier is not waterproof and does swell and come off with immersion into a bath or pool so not the best for my lifestyle. Although I have found that using the extra large Coloplast barrier extenders helps to protect the barrier from water and makes it adhere to my skin better. Also, the extra large barrier extenders, when worn over the entire barrier to the plastic flange, does not get water under it and therefore doesn't swell and lasts longer; unlike with the larger tape borders. This barrier is small and so the extra large Coloplast barrier extenders are able to cover the entire barrier plus enough skin for better adhesion. I recently got four days of wear from this using the extenders, but these were not swim days and I took showers instead of baths. The average wear time of the CeraPlus with the extenders is two days when I'm swimming, and even when Bob plays Peek-a-Boo it often still gets under the flange and therefore usually lasts only a few days anyway. The downside to wearing the Coloplast barrier extenders is the skin irritation it leaves in the large area it covers around the barrier. Here you can see the redness of my skin (above) from daily wear of these extenders, but I believe it's just because I have sensitive skin.
Next are two of Hollister's 1 piece convex pouches:
This is the Hollister convex #8548 which has a filter, peek window, tape border and rigid convexity. The spout end rolls up and fastens with a plastic hook and lock apparatus you push together from the middle out to the edges making sure to fasten it completely
This shows the back of the #8548 with the rigid convexity cut to fit 25mm - 38mm
This is the Hollister convex #8958, which has a filter, peek window, tape border and soft convexity. Cut to fit 20mm - 38mm
Both appliances from above look the same when on, are lower profile and more flexible than the two piece since there is no plastic flange
Here you can see the tape border is flat to the skin and low profile; the bag is affixed to the baseplate which lays flatter than with the plastic flange of two piece appliances.
Both bags have a peek window to see the stoma
Both appliances also have tabs for the Hollister belt which provides more stability and support. I'm not a fan of the type filter these bags use, as they cause serious suction of the bag onto the stoma which leads to pancaking and ultimately leaking behind the barrier. Basically, they work too well leaving no air in the pouch so the output is unable to fall to the bottom of the bag and has nowhere else to go except be pushed around the stoma and behind the baseplate. If it happens to last more than a day because you're able to constantly put air into the bag, the filter wears out completely and therefore is useless.
Below I will review the Coloplast 1 piece Sensura Mio light convex appliance: This is the front view: peek window, filter, wide roll up spout with velcro tabs. I used the Coloplast Brava ring to seal around the stoma under the barrier
You can see the convexity, cut to fit size 20mm - 33mm. It also has velcro on the first tab you roll up so that you can pin it back before emptying the pouch; this is a nice feature because it adds rigidity to the spout to make it easier to open for emptying and cleaning. I also love the wide spout and the thickness of the pouch which is a couple layers, but this type of fabric over the plastic is different from others and dries more quickly after showering/bathing/swimming. Also, being that it has multiple plastic layers, there is no smell after the first day that I sometimes notice with the thin Hollister pouches. Another thing is this thicker plastic is way less rustly and doesn't even add extra weight!
Don't mind my Corgi Christmas jammies in these photos😆
This pic shows the appliance on where you can see how the spout end rolls up and is fastened with the velcro tab on each end. But that's not all...
Just to show the peek window on this style. Also, you see that velcro tab in the middle of the peek window? Well that is a way to shorten the bag further into a mini bag! (See pic below)
The roll-up end actually tucks up and velcros into the bottom of the bag so that it doesn't hit the thy, shortens the pouch a little and makes it easier to tuck away
This is how the bag tucks into itself, onto that velcro tab on the peek window, to make it a mini bag! This works great under a swimsuit as well the low profile benefit of a one piece appliance!
Another feature that really surprised me, is that this appliance has four belt tabs, two on each side and the Hollister belt fits these tabs! I like that it has belt tabs on the upper portion of the baseplate and on the lower portion so that I can either wear the belt high or low, not just in the middle. (My guess is the Coloplast belt fits into all belt tabs at the same time to wear in the middle, but I have not seen their belt yet). I prefer wearing the belt on the lower tabs as it's more on my hips and doesn't move around or dig into my love handles to create fat rolls 😂 it's just more comfortable this way. Finally, this pouch gets it right with the filter! Coloplast uses what they call a full circle filter; I don't know what exactly this is or how it works, but it does work without creating the suction that some others do. So far I've only worn this pouch for one night , but I have not have any ballooning of the bag either. I'll update at the end of this trial. *As an update, the filter keeps working throughout the days and nights yet it does not suck out all the air to create pancaking and leakage behind the barrier. It's the best filtered bag I've tried this far!
*Swimming update with Sensura Mio 1 piece: I tried swimming without the use of barrier extenders, however the baseplate is not as waterproof as it looks; after swimming for an hour, the outer edges started to pull up. The first time I tried the 1 piece Sensura Mio pouch with waterproof medical tape it held up through a 30 minute swim and a bath, plus I was able to wear for two days. However, this time I got a leak behind the barrier a few hours after an hour swim, and this was with a bag I just put on this afternoon. The tape is a good containment for barrier leaks, though, and gives extra time to change without having a mess. I'll post a pic below: This was the same place the barrier was coming up after my first swim [without the tape] and also with the Hollister appliance, so perhaps it's because of the outer curve of my abdomen and the movement and stretching with each swim stroke. Maybe I need a more flexible baseplate that covers more surface area as well as something more waterproof. Or maybe I simply didn't tack the baseplate down enough with tape this time.
Next is the Light Convex Sensura Mio Flex 2 piece by Coloplast
This is an interesting product that no other company makes, being a two piece that is low profile like a one piece. Instead of a plastic flange, this pouch sticks to the baseplate using an adhesive. Also, the Coloplast Brava ring works well with this appliance, creating an extra seal around the stoma.
The back of the pouch has this plastic paper over the adhesive circle the pouch sticks to. You can either put it together once you have the baseplate on, or before application so would basically be like putting on a one piece.
I like to angle the pouch to make it easier for emptying, tucking into my clothes, and also keeping it from hitting my thigh. The front view of this pouch is fine, but it sticks out more than the actual one piece. The flange does not sit as flat to the body, and convexity makes these pouches stick out a bit more than the flat pouches already so I like the one piece that lays flatter better. However, this pouch is pretty cool for those who prefer the perk of being able to remove the bag from flange without the rigid plastic. Like the other Sensura Mio appliances, this also has a peek window roll-up end that tucks into bottom of bag and also the ability to make a mini bag.
This is the side view of the Convex Sensura Mio Flex, where you can see how much it sticks out from profile. I also used the XL Coloplast barrier extenders with this pouch, and they work great together; these extenders hold up better than the waterproof tape in the pool. The baseplate did not start peeking off my skin as before, but the extenders did absorb a little water in a few spots. Though there was not a lot of water absorption, so I'd say the Sensura Mio with the XL Coloplast extenders is a good fit for swimming, next time I will try back to back swim days.
Here I wanted to show the side belt loops, baseplate and how the extenders cover the entire barrier and enough skin around it. As a side note, the barrier is not so large that the extenders extend into my navel, an issue I had with a Hollister tape barrier. This is how the pouch asher's to the baseplate and can be removed and replaced. I don't know how long this adhesive works if repeatedly taking on and off, I wore it as a one piece and kept the two together for the few days I wore it. |
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