# This morning I learned never to wear underwear to a hospital **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 30, 2011, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-morning-i-learned-never-to-wear-underwear-to-a-hospital/583788 "2011-05-30T21:06:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2011, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-morning-i-learned-never-to-wear-underwear-to-a-hospital/583788/1 "2011-05-30T21:06:38Z")
Well, I learned more than that, but that was the most memorable of the lessons I learned. Last night at about midnight I was walking from the kitchen into the bedroom to go to sleep when my sciatica (mentioned here in another thread previously) turned itself up to 11 and took my leg out from under me. I grabbed the table and yelled for my husband who came and helped me get to the bed so I could stretch out. The bed didn’t help. I laid on my non-injured side and sobbed and sobbed while he massaged me and got me heating packs and such, but after 40 minutes I still wasn’t able to move much at all and it still hurt like hell so we called an ambulance. The paramedics were awesome people who helped get me out of my bed, down the stairs, into the ambulance and to the hospital while keeping me calm the whole time. They were kind and professional and helped us fill out all the paperwork at the hospital so we could be seen right away. We are going to send them a fruit basket or something for being so great. Then the educational part of the evening started. In the hospital I learned: 1. Don’t wear underpants if you are going to the hospital. It makes it difficult when a nurse has to undress you so you can go to the bathroom. 2. Don’t watch other people come and go in the emergency room or you will eventually feel like you didn’t have a _real_ emergency because your head didn’t fall off or anything. 3. Doctors are awesome when you are very up front about your needs. I told them exactly what happened and that I am so afraid of needles that I would like to avoid them if at all possible so every time they came by to check on me and run tests and stuff they started their statement with, “No needles!” while holding up their hands to make sure I could see they weren’t lying. I felt a thousand times better knowing that they were willing to work with my phobia so I wasn’t tense and stressed about being in the hospital for hours. I’ve always been a little :eek::dubious:☹ about doctors and hospitals but so far my experiences with my doctors this year have left me feeling much less :eek::dubious::(. So that was my memorial day. I hope yours was more pleasant and less educational than mine! ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2011, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-morning-i-learned-never-to-wear-underwear-to-a-hospital/583788/2 "2011-05-30T21:28:18Z")
Wait, I thought you were always supposed to wear clean underwear because you might get sent to the hospital? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2011, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-morning-i-learned-never-to-wear-underwear-to-a-hospital/583788/3 "2011-05-30T21:40:06Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > Wait, I thought you were always supposed to wear clean underwear because you might get sent to the hospital? 😕 Well, whoever made up that rule is incorrect. You are supposed to go commando unless you want to be treated like a store mannequin every time you need to pee. I suppose that will depend on the reason you are at the hospital, of course, but better safe than sorry! ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2011, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-morning-i-learned-never-to-wear-underwear-to-a-hospital/583788/4 "2011-05-30T21:46:00Z")
> [@pbbth](#): > > Well, whoever made up that rule is incorrect. You are supposed to go commando unless you want to be treated like a store mannequin every time you need to pee. So after the first time, did you just keep the undies off? ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2011, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-morning-i-learned-never-to-wear-underwear-to-a-hospital/583788/5 "2011-05-30T22:06:39Z")
I’d have kept them off. In hospitals, modesty is pretty much nonexistent anyway. Sucks. I sure hope whatever they did helped, I have mild sciatica and that is bad enough. ---
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2011, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-morning-i-learned-never-to-wear-underwear-to-a-hospital/583788/6 "2011-05-30T22:08:19Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > So after the first time, did you just keep the undies off? Yeah, they got shoved in my purse after the first trip to the bathroom. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2011, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-morning-i-learned-never-to-wear-underwear-to-a-hospital/583788/7 "2011-05-30T22:48:46Z")
As someone that had sciatica last year, eventually having an operation for my slipped disc in November, I feel for you, I really do. That’s all really, just support. I’ve been there and it is nasty. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2011, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-morning-i-learned-never-to-wear-underwear-to-a-hospital/583788/8 "2011-05-30T23:29:43Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > Wait, I thought you were always supposed to wear clean underwear because you might get sent to the hospital? 😕 My Mom always said to wear clean underwear in case I got hit by a bus. Though I guess a trip to the hospital might follow. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2011, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-morning-i-learned-never-to-wear-underwear-to-a-hospital/583788/9 "2011-05-30T23:31:29Z")
Oh, man, I feel for you. Your comment about sobbing and sobbing in pain for forty minutes just made \*me \*want to cry. Did they help? Did they come up with anything good? ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2011, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-morning-i-learned-never-to-wear-underwear-to-a-hospital/583788/10 "2011-05-30T23:46:46Z")
What did the Dr’s. do for your sciatica? I’m never wearing underwear again as a preventative measure, thanks to you. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-morning-i-learned-never-to-wear-underwear-to-a-hospital/583788/11 "2011-05-31T00:36:34Z")
When my dad went in for a broken arm, the hospital stole my dad’s underwear. Nah, it was probably just lost somewhere, but it’s funnier to say it that way. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-morning-i-learned-never-to-wear-underwear-to-a-hospital/583788/12 "2011-05-31T00:38:48Z")
That’s so kind of them to do the “no needles!” bit! ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-morning-i-learned-never-to-wear-underwear-to-a-hospital/583788/13 "2011-05-31T00:40:39Z")
> [@GaryM](#): > > My Mom always said to wear clean underwear in case I got hit by a bus. Though I guess a trip to the hospital might follow. My grandmother told me that if I got hit by a bus I’d shit my pants whether I was wearing clean underwear or not. The last time I was in hospital and & hurt bad enough for bathroom help to even be an issue my undies ended up being cut off me along with my pants. ---
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-morning-i-learned-never-to-wear-underwear-to-a-hospital/583788/14 "2011-05-31T01:24:55Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Oh, man, I feel for you. Your comment about sobbing and sobbing in pain for forty minutes just made \*me \*want to cry. Did they help? Did they come up with anything good? Since I’m pregnant they weren’t able to do any x-rays or MRIs or anything to see if it was a slipped disc or whatnot so they gave me tylenol and a prescription for a very mild percocet and sent me home. I’m currently trying to find a public pool to use as I was advised swimming is a good way to deal with the sciatica and they gave us some massage techniques that have helped a bit as well. > [@Shirley\_Ujest](#): > > I’m never wearing underwear again as a preventative measure, thanks to you. Glad I could help. 😉 > [@alphaboi867](#): > > The last time I was in hospital and & hurt bad enough for bathroom help to even be an issue my undies ended up being cut off me along with my pants. See, I’m telling you that the no underpants in the hospital rule is a good one! ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-morning-i-learned-never-to-wear-underwear-to-a-hospital/583788/15 "2011-05-31T02:59:59Z")
> [@GaryM](#): > > My Mom always said to wear clean underwear in case I got hit by a bus. Though I guess a trip to the hospital might follow. That’s so you don’t get embarrassed in front of the bus driver. ---
**Author:** ![Sierra\_Indigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Sierra\_Indigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sierra_Indigo)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-morning-i-learned-never-to-wear-underwear-to-a-hospital/583788/16 "2011-05-31T03:51:46Z")
At least your pants didn’t get cut off of you. My ex ended up with that happening at least twice because when it’s a full emergency they don’t undress you - they just cut (One time was after his GI bleed, the other time he’d passed out and had a fit of some sort) ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-morning-i-learned-never-to-wear-underwear-to-a-hospital/583788/17 "2011-05-31T04:46:53Z")
When going to the doctor or hospital, always assume that they will want immediate, unrestricted access to your body. Especially your ass. Dress with this in mind. They will also prefer that you not have any metal on or in your clothing. This is especially true if you’re going to get any lab work done. The best apparel for going to see a medical professional is a knee length or longer knit garment, with no undies. Most people, however, prefer to wear a bit more than that when appearing in public. But seriously, I have a couple of dresses that are simply long tshirts, and which are streetwear, specifically for going to get tests done. They’re more comfy than those damn paper garments. I can have blood drawn or an MRI taken in these things with no problem. NEVER wear a girdle or support panties when going to the doctor. Skip the pantyhose if at all possible, ditto the bra. If you suspect or know that you’re gonna have to get nekkid or nearly nekkid, wear the minimum possible, and preferably something that can be easily removed and put back on. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-morning-i-learned-never-to-wear-underwear-to-a-hospital/583788/18 "2011-05-31T05:09:42Z")
As a veteran healthcare professional, I will say the clean underwear rule is, in most cases, moot. We don’t look, we don’t care, and it’s mostly just in the way. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-morning-i-learned-never-to-wear-underwear-to-a-hospital/583788/19 "2011-05-31T07:18:53Z")
OP - I’m only half kidding when I say that if you rejected the best delivery system for pain meds, your sciatica couldn’t have been that bad. I’m no fan of needles myself but when my sciatica gets that bad they can route Demerol up my ass with gerbil if thats what it takes to kill the pain. On a more serious note, sorry to hear that you are hurting. \>\>hug\<\< ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-morning-i-learned-never-to-wear-underwear-to-a-hospital/583788/20 "2011-05-31T16:14:27Z")
She’s pregnant, though — would they even have given her anything that could be put in an IV? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-morning-i-learned-never-to-wear-underwear-to-a-hospital/583788.md?page=2)