What is stoma support wear?

Stoma support wear is a range of garments, designed to support your abdomen post bowel surgery and provide both support & security to your stoma and stoma bag. Stoma support wear can be used as both hernia support and also as a preventative measure during physical activity.

At Comfizz, we understand that stoma support wear isn't just limited to the above description. It can have many advantages and empowers many of our customers to have a higher quality of stoma life with added confidence and peace of mind.  

There is a variety of support wear available to you out there. Support wear can vary depending on colour choices, sizes, levels of support, depths, materials, price and, of course, your needs. We understand having to make a choice, especially soon post-surgery, can be very overwhelming but do not fear, we are here to help! In this post, we will break these factors down for you into more of a digestible format (pun intended!)

Products

We have a wide range of products here at Comfizz from waistbands to belts, crop tops to vests and t-shirts, swimwear, boxers, briefs & support thongs, to leggings. We also provide accessories such as Comfisleeves, travel aids and stoma protectors.

Colours 

We understand that having a range of colours to choose from is important to you. We have increasingly added more colour choices to our garments to suit your preferences and outfit needs.

Our colours also inject fun and personality into our garments, even better if you can own a piece of stoma support wear in your favourite colour! In fact, why not go for a colour co-ordinated wardrobe with stoma support wear to compliment your clothes? However, if you'd prefer to keep your colour choices to a minimum, our products mainly come in neutral, black & white as standard.

You can view colour choices here.

Sizes 

Here at Comfizz, we pride ourselves on our ethos "Inclusion for all". Unlike many of our competitors, we offer our garments in a range from junior, extra small sizing to size 4XL to cater for children, men & women. 

Due to the nature of our fabrics, there can be an overlap between sizing. This is to take into account individual preferences and how tight you like your garments to fit so it is  vital to bear this in mind when placing an order with us.

You can view more detail on our sizing for different support levels of our garments in our catalogue. This is available online or if you prefer, as a paper copy.

Support levels 

From paying great attention to what our customers need, we understand that people's needs for garments vary. We offer different support levels through our products to adapt to your needs when living with a stoma, incontinence or post-surgical wounds.

Clinical trials done by Comfizz collaborating with a specialist stoma nurse at Queen's Hospital London ran over a period of 12 months confirmed that by wearing Comfizz support wear, incidences of hernias decreased significantly. You can read Lorraine's article here about this and this trial was also peer reviewed and published in the British Journal of Nursing (BJN) in 2014.

Our products are designed with stoma functionality in mind, so do not stop your stoma from doing its thing!

From level 1 being the lightest level of support to level 3 being our most firm, here is a breakdown of what those levels mean:

• Level 1 - light support range wear that provides soft and gentle support and can be worn all day.

• Level 2 - medium support designed for supporting hernias or to give extra support when exercising.

• Level 3 - premium, firm support ideal for holding hernias, protecting hernia repairs & during strenuous activity.

Depth

Support & depth go hand in hand, which is why we offer a range of waistband widths, illustrated below.

More depths = more options! You may decide to wear our 5" deep waistband to hold your bag in place during intimacy and at the opposite end, you may opt to wear our 20" deep waistband to wear under a tighter fit formal outfit. A popular depth choice amongst our customers for everyday wear is the 10" depth.

You may also notice the green pharmaceutical cross below our 10" and 7" depths which means that you can apply for these items on prescription, specifically if you have a medical exemption certificate, in the UK. We will go into this in more detail below our 'Price' heading within this post.

Materials 

Having high quality, breathable and comfortable fabric is vital for stoma life. We use materials that wick sweat away and help to keep the skin cool and dry to minimise skin irritation and adhesive issues.

Ever been irritated by those pesky internal clothing labels? We have done away with those so saved you and your scissors a job! Flexible and elasticated materials are also key so that the garments literally adhere to your needs but also allow for non-restrictive stoma functioning.

Unlike many other brands, our products do not have internal pockets for your stoma bag/s to sit in as doing this or cutting holes in the fabric significantly compromises the function and effectiveness of our products. However, the materials we use are designed with security also in mind so that your bag isn't going anywhere, at the same time as it having room to breathe!

We do have some options where the fabric aperture allows for the stoma bag to be brought through the garment, with stabilised ribs so as to not compromise the garment at the same time. Extra protection (not support) for activities such as contact sports can be found by teaming up our garments with our Comfishield Set.

Price 

We understand that financial matters can impact your ability to buy our products.

Klarna is something we offer, where you have the option to spread the cost of your order.

We can also offer certain items on prescription within the UK as well as them being available to purchase. We have a range of items available to apply for via prescription listed here.

It is important to note that applying for Comfizz garments on prescription does not necessarily guarantee that you will get them. It is dependent on your area, your needs and what your medical team are happy to prescribe. Most doctors will happily prescribe up to 6 garments annually. Please note that if you live in Scotland, only items marked with the Scottish icons are available to you to request on prescription.

Individual needs 

In 2004, when a Comfizz family member had stoma surgery, we focused on using our expertise and access to performance fabrics to produce not only comfortable, but functional support wear. We pride ourselves on our communications with patients and health professionals to keep our products cutting edge and tailored to what you are asking for as a highly valued Comfizz customer.

Adopting a hands-on approach means that any feedback we receive we can take on board and look at how we can improve the products to best suit your needs. As a business, we care deeply about ensuring we provide for as many needs within our niche as possible. We have a genuine understanding of stoma life and stoma patients' needs and we also have staff members, who have/have had stomas, who are understandably in the best position to educate us all and empathise with our customers also.

Effectively chosen stoma support wear can really make a difference to stoma life. The benefits can be endless such as promoting confidence, self-esteem and going about your day to day life. Interested to know more or need help with sizing? Contact us today here or reach out to us on our social media accounts. We also offer a free one-to-one consultation.