The stoma can measure from 1 to 1 1/2 inches around. Unlike your anus, the stoma has no sphincter muscle (the muscles that control bowel movements), so most people cannot control the exit of waste.

Finding out you have inflammatory bowel disease or cancer is undoubtedly difficult news to hear and accept. Finding out that you will also require an ostomy can be devastating as well. For many, the ...

A stoma is an opening in your belly's wall that a surgeon makes in order for waste to leave your body if you can't have a bowel movement through your rectum. You might get one if you have surgery to ...

Skin irritations, stoma retractions, prolapse, or blockage are some of the more common complications of a colostomy. About 150,000 new colostomies or ileostomies are performed each year in the United ...

Medical companies sponsor 75% of nurses in one area of NHS care in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The nurses care for patients who have had colostomies or ileostomies. Some in the NHS are ...

The mum of a brave young Airdrie schoolboy who is adapting to life with a stoma after years of feeling unwell has praised the care and treatment he received. Ashley Guild, 31, told how eight-year-old ...