Exam gown ties

Exam gowns, or Johnnies as they're called around me, have a couple of ties. How many do you tie? All of them, or just one? Which one? Is it different for play or for real exams?

I have not been in an exam gown for physical exams very often. My experience is that I can usually tie the top tie at the back of my neck but not the tie in the middle of the back. My arms are flexible enough to reach back there but trying to tie that middle tie backwards is really hard. If I get it tied, it usually doesn't stay tied long. It probably doesn't matter as getting the top tie tied keeps the gown on and the back of the gown is going to be open partly anyway. The doctor first sees my backside when he is checking my lungs and has me take deep breathes while standing behind me. It is silly to worry about the lack of modesty in an exam gown when I am exposed by the end of the exam anyway.

I've only warn ones with 2. Except one time there was an extra string so you could tie the johnny to fit tighter or looser.

I will mostly tie both sets, I am flexible, so I can tie the middle one which is on the back or side.

I wish they had another set for the middle inside, so my back would stay covered better, I guess some have that, but haven't seen it.

I love hospital gowns, I sleep in them a lot. I like wearing them for my exams at the hospital too.

Funny you initiated this post. i just got finished reading the post where you were fumbling with the gown & eventually tied it when the doctor left the room, & i self debated whether i still wanted to "like" your post at that point. LOL. I enjoyed the rest of that story. Thanks for sharing.

So I'm glad you made a subject of exam gown ties. I don't tie shit. Despite my fetish of being undressed by others & would probably like the feeling of the doctor untying my gown, i usually think it's a waste, probably because i'm not into gowns. Plus I like to show off what can be seen with an open gown.

I wear them all the time as a standardized patient. I only tie the neck and then loosely so I can take the gown down without having to mess with the tie.

For the dermatologist, I don't tie anything.

I don't get the need for gowns (and always try to avoid them like the plague). And on those rare occasions in the distant past that I have worn a gown, I don't think I was ever able to really tie it correctly. My hands just don't work well when trying to tie something behind my back, or up at my neck. But the bigger question for me is, why bother tying the gown at all? Within 5 minutes after the doctor starts their examination, they will likely need to untie the gown anyway. Why bother?

I absolutely agree. Gowns are to support patient modesty. Patient modesty creates inadequate heath care. I'm not saying that you should be nude for every appointment, but it can save your life in the context of any full body exam. For example, your GP might not be a dermatologist, but they can certainly catch something that needs further examination - if they can see it. Even in the full body skin exam, the dermatologist spends lots of effort moving the gown. How about I just stand/sit/lay nude while you do your thing and concentrate on my skin?

When I was in the hospital, recently, I wore nothing but gowns. Some of them were more complicated than others. I had a few which had only half a tie in the back, with a loop in which it seemed you were supposed to cinch it off, or something, but the hospital staff never could figure it out, and it was truly impossible for me to do anything with it alone. I always seemed to be wearing one of these whenever I needed to be up and walking down the hall, so either I or someone else had to hold the back together, or my backside was just exposed. Usually, it ended up being about half and half, most of the time.

I've already said, elsewhere on here, I think we would be better off just being nude while in the hospital, at least in bed and our room. We have the sheets and blankets in bed. Gowns, or just some drapery, could be used if we need to leave our room. The gowns are meant to preserve some modesty, but they fail in this, so really patients are nearly nude, or have incidents of unintendedly being exposed when these foolish gowns open or slip off. And, hospital staff waste a lot of time dancing around this attempt at modesty, which just gets in the way of doing their jobs, and delivering healthcare overall. People should just be used to their doctors and nurses seeing them nude.

I don't wear clothes in bed at home, why should the hospital be different?

I too don't really care for the gown, especially when they are coming off anyway. To be fair it's a rare occurrence these days for a gown . In A & E they leave them on each bed and presume you will put it on. If admitted unless you are unconscious or on Critical Care or HDU , heavily monitored or can't do anything for yourself you are allowed to wear your own nightie or pyjamas.

Gowns are mostly worn for a procedure or a visit to the operating theatre . The ones I've been given lately don't have ties. It's just a long pink gown that has a split down the back, from about a quarter of the way down. The split is covered underneath by more fabric . The Drs, nurses etc are able to access you easily, but they don't expose you in anyway.

Males are given thin pyjamas in a green or peach colour . These are button front for the jacket. The bottoms are elastic and just pull on/off but have the fly hole in them .

Nik

At my primary care, I don't tie the gown at all. It just gets in the way. I leave it on so the nurse can do the ekg exam. In the hospital for my knee surgery, it was ties loosely at the top and they would hand me a second gown to put on backwards if I needed to use the bathroom or go walking with the physical therapist.

At work ( endoscopy) we just tie the top ties and those at the waist , the ensures that the patient is fully covered , but still allows us access to perform the various activities we need too.

When I worked in ITU ( British equivalent of ICU) we never tied any of the ties on any intubated and ventilated patient regardless of their sex . As it afforded us the access we need when dealing in time critical situations, dealing with ties in an emergency situation just causes an unnecessary delay, which can be extremely detrimental.

We don't use the gowns that Nik described

. The ones I've been given lately don't have ties. It's just a long pink gown that has a split down the back, from about a quarter of the way down. The split is covered underneath by more fabric . The Drs, nurses etc are able to access you easily, but they don't expose you in anyway.

Ours are the ones that have the opening at the back and has 3 sets of ties and are made of cloth and has a blue diamond print ,

The few times I've been asked to put on an exam gown, they've always been open in the back, I've never bothered tying the ties.

I don't tie the gown in a real exam.

I always leave them all untied.... A couple times the nurse has tied the top one for me.

Nearly all the hospital gowns I have worn have both strings missing,they are all freshly laundered,but you have to walk with one hand behind your back holding them shut,or let everyone see your arse hanging out.

The gowns that my local hospital provide have three ties (two at the back of the neck and one at the rear waist). They also have a large overlapping panel at the back for extra modesty. When im naked underneath for surgeries or other procedures, I always use a mirror to help me put it on. The gowns are fiddly to put on and i often expose myself when walking around if it is missing ties.

Intructions on how to tie a gown: Tie it first. Slip it over your head. I can't believe anybody even tries to tie it with their hands behind their backs....! However, when instructed to put on a gown, I prefer to not tie it at all.

I never tie it, too much hassle once the exam starts.

I never tie the ties on the Johnnie's. They are a waste of my time.

Has anyone ever tied a tie that did NOT get untied during the course of the exam?

Has a doctor ever not re-tied a tie after he untied it ?

At my dermatologist's, the nurse instructs me as she lays the gown on the table, "Here's you a gown, everything off, opening in the back. Don't bother tying it, the doctor will start with your back." When the doctor and nurse return, they will start with my back then have me lie down while they lower the gown to my waist and check my stomach, chest, and arms. They then raise the gown back up while I slip my arms back in and they proceed with checking my legs. With me still lying on the table, they fold the bottom of my gown over to expose one leg at a time. So while lying down, my genitals are still covered, but I am exposed one side at a time from above my stomach down to my toes. During this part of the exam, the doctor will move my foot, leg, and/ or knee to allow him to see all but the back of each leg. At the end of each side he will bend my knee and place the bottom of my foot flat on the table just below my butt while he gently pushes my knee out to the side. This allows him to subtly view my taint, butt crack, and genitals (very clever I think). Next, I sit up and the nurse will fasten the top ties on my gown while the doctor continues examining my face and head. Finally I stand up, the doctor kneels down, pulls my gown out away from my body and examines my groin area, back of my legs, and butt. While doing this, the doctor has me slowly rotate to my left 90° two separate times. So he starts kind of on my right side, then views me from behind, then from my left side. The tie straps the nurse tied earlier keeps the gown secured to my body without it falling off. Overall, it's a very efficient way to examine all of my skin without me feeling completely exposed and embarrassed.

At my dermatologist's, the nurse instructs me as she lays the gown on the table, "Here's you a gown, everything off, opening in the back. Don't bother tying it, the doctor will start with your back." When the doctor and nurse return, they will start with my back then have me lie down while they lower the gown to my waist and check my stomach, chest, and arms. They then raise the gown back up while I slip my arms back in and they proceed with checking my legs. With me still lying on the table, they fold the bottom of my gown over to expose one leg at a time. ..During this part of the exam, the doctor will move my foot, leg, and/ or knee to allow him to see all but the back of each leg. At the end of each side he will bend my knee and place the bottom of my foot flat on the table just below my butt while he gently pushes my knee out to the side. ..Next, I sit up and the nurse will fasten the top ties on my gown while the doctor continues examining my face and head. Finally I stand up, the doctor kneels down, pulls my gown out away from my body and examines my groin area, back of my legs, and butt. While doing this, the doctor has me slowly rotate to my left 90° two separate times. So he starts kind of on my right side, then views me from behind, then from my left side. The tie straps the nurse tied earlier keeps the gown secured to my body without it falling off. Overall, it's a very efficient way to examine all of my skin without me feeling completely exposed and embarrassed.

After reading this, I went to check which state you are from, to see where all of this concern about male patient modesty was originating from.

I'm guessing because the groin area gets examined, especially with a nurse in the room, there is even a need for a gown. The elaborate systematic way they deal with it suggests to me they want to have one uniform procedure for both men and women.

A stark contrast to my semi annual skin exams where there's no gown and 2 women in the room.

I don’t bother with the ties since I know they will be undone.

Being a bigger dude, admittedly its hard to reach around the back all the way to tie all the ties up. Most of the time I do just the one around the neck and thats it. No one really seems to care either. During my hospital stay, I did tie up in the back all the way a couple times, but every time I did, they would undo the lower ties to give me an exam, so I stopped bothering with those ties. Yeah my rear hung out if I stood up but I had my own room, and was in bed most of the time, so its not like anyone really saw much in the 1st place.

I tie the top strings before I put the gown on and simply slip it over my head. Never had a Doctor or nurse untie it or taketh gown off. They just lift it up and can slip a stethoscope in underneath for heart/lung checks.

I've always been told to put it on open at the front. The gowns are huge and wrap all the way around me so i never bother with the ties.

Normally the nurse helps tie them, or at least tells you which tie to tie. At a minimum, the top is tied, and usually I have one at waist level tied as well. Eventually they’ll be untied, though.

Usually just the top one and the one around my waist.

Real exam ... I NEVER tie them. If gown is donned, I always have it wide open in the back ... easier to lower when instructed!