Everything you need to know about Water and G tubes! (GJ tubes too)
Let’s deep dive (pun intended) into some of the most common questions about feeding tubes and water.
Are g tubes waterproof? What about water resistant?
Technically speaking a g tube is waterproof and water resistant because it is able to be submerged in water (think bathtub or pool) and the button is not damaged, and water will not get inside the feeding tube button.
5 reasons you would not want to submerge a feeding tube.
- If your currently experiencing any signs of a yeast infection or irritation around your feeding tube site.
- If you have recently had a silver nitrate treatment to treat granulation tissue.
- Have any other surgical sites that are recent.
- Currently experiencing any stomach distress like vomiting, diarrhea, or general pain in your abdomen
- If the water looks cloudy, green, has hidden debris or water hazards (lakes), has a large amount of bugs on the water surface, or in general does not look safe, just go ahead and skip swimming.
Can you take a bath with a feeding tube? Shower?
Shortly, after having a g tube or gj tube placed, your surgical care team will advise you to allow the site to heal. For the first few days to a couple of weeks, you will want to try sponge bathing with warm water, wash cloth, and mild soap.
The reason you don’t want to submerge a new gastric feeding tube in water is that water and moisture in general can make the skin around the site swell. This swelling can cause the initial healing of the stoma to take longer.
After the site is healing well, you can resume taking baths or showers.
Can you go swimming with a g tube?
Once your cleared to take a bath per your surgical care team, swimming is definitely ok! Doctors usually advice to swim in a well cleaned and maintained pool or ocean type setting. Ponds and lakes may want to be avoided if they have stagnant or still water, because this can have higher bacteria levels.
It is recommended that the dressing around a g tube or gj tube be changed and the site area to be cleaned after swimming just as a precaution. Taking a quick shower at the pool is an easy solution to make sure any chlorine is not lingering on the skin around the site.
Can you go in a hot tub with a feeding tube?
If you are someone that enjoys being in a hot tub, especially for pain relief in your muscles, there are some precautions that you may want to take. Your g tube or gj tube site may be very sensitive to heat so you may have to lower the temperature setting on the hot tub down to about 96-98 degrees. Since most hot tubs use chlorine, you will definitely want to shower afterwards and change any dressings you use around your site.
As a safety precaution, children under 5 should never go in a hot tub due to being unable to dissipate the heat as much as adults.
It is also recommended to stay fully hydrated while using a hot tub, and to only submerge for 5- 20 minutes at a time.
Conclusion
After getting the all clear from your surgical team, active lifestyles can definitely continue and that includes getting wet, bathing/showering, and swimming.
Children especially can learn so much developmentally from playing in water, that it would be sad to keep them away. My daughter is two right now and is not a huge fan of being in a pool, but she loves to play in the bathtub. She currently is very scared of sprinklers and splash pads, but when she is ready, we will definitely be letting her play in the water as much as she likes. (For now, she prefers to play with a bucket of water on the side) Right now she is a huge fan of water balloon fights in the front yard and playing with a water activity table.
As long as you do it safely, and take some easy precautions, having a g tube or gj tube does not mean you have to avoid water!
