Exercise After Surgery: Back to Basics

No matter what level of physical activity you want to pursue, ostomy surgery shouldn’t hold you back. Whether you've had colostomy, ileostomy or urostomy surgery, your abdominal muscles need time to heal and strengthen, and it might seem difficult to be active again. Your muscles may be weaker than usual, due to the time spent in the hospital but these things can be overcome with gradual training and exercises.

Go for the Gold

As you begin to workout and become active again, take some time to test your current physical state and the limits you might have. Find the distance you can comfortably go when working out, and then push yourself a little further each day. This constant adjusting of goals will allow you to really feel the progress you’re making every day. 

Learn to place and secure your ostomy pouch. Try using an ostomy belt or wearing an Ostomysecrets^® wrap to help keep your pouch secure and supported against your body, which may help increase wear time.

Walk around and get a feel for how your ostomy reacts to different movements.

Move more and more each day, building up towards your wanted level of exercise.

Do anything you feel comfortable doing. Running, jogging, swimming, climbing, skiing; when it comes to working out with an ostomy, you shouldn’t be prevented from staying fit the way you want to.

Trust the process to progress. Patience is key and while your muscles may need more time to heal and strengthen, you are making progress with each movement you make. Check out the Dos and Don'ts of getting back to exercise.