Does anyone prefer paper gowns to the cloth?

I know there is debate on gowns, but does anyone prefer paper gowns to the cloth ? This goes for doctors and patients

Last time a Dr. threw a gown at me, I threw it back at him. I come from a place when a Dr examines you, there is no reason to wear a paper or cloth 'nightie'.

For me, I don't wear a gown, I decline when offered. I just wear my boxer briefs and low cut ankle socks. For my wife, she really has no preference as she has worn both. She figures that the examiner will see it all anyway, so no point ruminating which is better!

For women's physicals, our doctor's office uses a paper vest that opens in front and comes down to about the navel, and a paper drape that covers down to mid thigh.

Never been in a paper gown. My dermatologist gives me a cloth gown. Briefly wore a cloth gown for my play exam, too.

They seem kind of silly, except for those times the room is cold, but I figure it keeps protocol and makes everybody else a little more comfortable, and hey, they're trying to be respectful, right? I know little things do sometimes make a difference - for some odd reason when they said that I could leave my underwear on under the gown for my surgeries it felt much better.

Of the gowns I'd be much more likely to decline paper, because cloth is a bit more comfortable and warmer, whereas paper is pretty much why bother- cold, drafty and crinkly. All the times except maybe once I've been given them it's been cloth.

Always cloth, never paper. I'd probably feel a little more vulnerable in a paper gown as it could rip easily.

I often don't mind the paper gowns since it seems like I've put effort into being covered, even though I know damn well the thing is going to rip on me at some point and it'll be gone. I guess it makes me feel like less of a perv if I go through the effort, rather than just sitting there naked waiting for the doctor.

I do not really care for exam gowns but if I have to choose, I would prefer cloth. I have only had one examination done in which a gown was used. It was cloth and the ties were in the front. The left side of the gown crossed over the right side and the tie was over the right hip. I was told to leave my underwear on with the gown over it. When it came time for the genital/hernia, the doctor had me stand and he just pulled on the tie to untie it so that the gown fell open. He moved the gown out from in front of my genitalia and instructed my to drop my shorts. If I had been naked under the gown it would have taken away the awkwardness of the instruction to me to drop the shorts and my having to follow the instruction which I find exciting to think about afterward. For the overall experience, physicals done in only undershorts is the best.

For the overall experience, physicals done in only undershorts is the best.

See, I enjoy the added humiliation and subservience of being told to remove the additional layer of false modesty.

Different strokes....

I suspect the gown is as much to protect the doctor as it is to protect the patient's modesty.

The 1st time I had a skin exam with my lady dermatologist, the assistant who brought me into the room told me that because i was male and the doc was a female, that i was to wear a gown. Even though I was also told to leave my underwear on. So that was explicitly for the doctor's sake.

After she had gotten to know me from repeat visits, & the various assistants would just say "Here's a gown", I stopped wearing it & would just sit on it instead. Especially if I am there to have my skin examined, it seems ridiculous during a skin exam to have the skin covered. Eventually i minimized my cover to just a swim supporter jockstrap, so it would have the thinnest waistband & leave my butt cheeks exposed. After all, when i used the tanning bed for x number of years, I would also tan my butt & just cover my genitals.

On a separate note as far as the doc's modesty or whatever, when disposable gowns were first left out for me to wear during annual physicals at work, I had already been seeing this male doc for annual physicals for the past several years. Why was I going to wear a gown now? It seemed silly that it would just get in the way, & I'm as covered and exposed as i am at the beach or in my yard anyway. What was there to be modest about?

Needless to say, i never bothered putting it on, even as the docs changed in the years to come.

Now that I have my own primary care doc & she is female & I am asked to wear a gown, I comply, albeit leaving the gown wide open. I hear her husband who is also a doc there, instruct his patients when they are brought in from the waiting room "shirt off pants on", but no mention of a gown. So that would also lend credence to the "protect the doctor as much..." comment.

Cloth most times but paper in a play exam wouldn't be bad either

I hate gowns...not so much as being asked to wear them ( I am a pretty compliant guy and I tend to go along with instructions)..but because I genuinely find it almost impossible to tie the wretched things properly.

You can read an account elsewhere about when I had to have a routine hip x-ray. The admissions nurse was adamant that I had to take all of my clothes off and wear a skimpy gown. I couldn't tie it correctly and so had to sort of clutch it to myself. It felt awkward. Every nurse /radiologist/ assistant I came into contact with was fussing about it. Eventually they asked my permission for one of the nurses to do the ties for me!!!

How times change. During the years 1960 - 1970 (when I was aged 8 -1😎 I was always instructed to strip naked for examinations no matter who was present. Even as late as 1982 (I was 29) - when I had to have a full medical for the Insurance part of obtaining my first mortgage - the doctor simply told me ( not harshly ) to strip completely naked even though his assistant was female. Seemingly, back then, worrying about a patient's modesty or possible sense of embarrassment was simply not an issue.

Perhaps in the context of medicine. Male and female artists attend life drawing sessions to sketch male and female models who are, of course, naked. Yes, they need to see the entire body to accurately depict them. But isn't that true as well of medical doctors?

I have found Australian doctors don't tend to use gowns for general or dermatologist examinations. I've even had moles surgically removed without getting changed out of my closes. For the examinations you just remove what is necessary. For the annual medical & the dermatologist that eventually results in me be completely naked for a few minutes after most of the exam is in your underwear.

At the doctors office, I get paper gowns exclusively. One dermatologist had the nurse offer the choice of a gown or just underwear. I chose underwear. The only place I have received cloth gowns is at the hospital or at an imaging center. In those cases I was nude under the gown so it was nice to have something more than a paper towel.

I prefer the generic cloth gowns to paper ones. They just seem more realistic to me.

@JTMac

I'm as covered and exposed as i am at the beach

Yea so it's actually illogical to make male patients wear a gown because at the beach there is female and male kids and adults and men can and do hang out in speedos, and no one has a problem. Some things about society are very illogical. So what the heck is the difference being in the exam room in underwear. Maybe it's a tad warmer wearing a gown lol. With woman then maybe to cover there boobs. But anyway they're doctors, so they shouldn't have a problem looking at someone naked, same gender or opposite.

I prefer cloth gowns

I've only ever had cloth gowns. Horrible patterned things looking like they rampaged out of a 1980's prison. Hopefully that's due to our government funded health service and those who pay get better looking gowns!

Yea so it's actually illogical to make male patients wear a gown because at the beach there is female and male kids and adults and men can and do hang out in speedos, and no one has a problem. Some things about society are very illogical. So what the heck is the difference being in the exam room in underwear...

The idea with offering gowns to men is that all patients are treated equally. Offering a gown to a woman & not to a man suggests a double standard. Our increasingly politically correct world is oblivious to the fact that double standards can actually be appropriate at times.

That's why most of the time, they don't make a big deal if guys refuse to wear the gowns. Because all they had to do was their part - provide the gown. Whether or not the patient chooses to wear it after that is more on the patient.

@JTMac one of my previous skin exams, new derm doc, her assistant instructed me to remove my clothes, and 'sorry, but your a guy, so no gown for you' is what she pretty much told me. I had to request another paper towel looking thing (she gave me one to put my bare feet on the tiled floor). When the Doc came in she sees the paper towel and says 'you didn't have to remove your underwear' (I didn't wear any that day, but how would she know that?) and 'my assistant should have given you something bigger to cover up with'. I told her it wasn't really necessary, and she quickly replied 'in this office we do NOT examine the genitals unless there is a specific concern, that is mentioned before hand, on the intake paperwork we gave you in the waiting room'.

Needless to say, I have a new derm doc, for my skin exams.

Needless to say, I have a new derm doc, for my skin exams.

@jhg:

So does that mean you're now given a gown, & still don't wear underwear on the days you have skin exams?

So does that mean you now have a derm doc that examines your genitals?

I think most places use the disposable paper gowns now. Much easier for them to just toss them after an exam than to have to always wash them.

I prefer my male patients in cloth gowns.

I prefer paper gown all the way around, they provide a covering but aren't very reliable leading to accidental exposure of the patient 😉

The cloth gowns have gone away at my doctor's in favor of the non reusable paper. When I think of all the trees that have been sacrificed for patient modesty....!

I prefer my male patients in cloth gowns.

Okay, JEN !....

Do you prefer them nude underneath, or wearing underwear underneath?

Do you prefer the opening in the front or in the back?

I much prefer cloth than paper.

There's just something about the feeling of cloth on the bare skin. Also, it's much easier to secure than those unattached ties with the paper.

Also, I can't get used to the examiner tearing for access... Smh.

Do you prefer them nude underneath, or wearing underwear underneath?

If you are going to the trouble of putting on a gown (which I try to avoid at all costs), why would you bother to wear anything underneath it? I still just don't understand the reasoning behind putting on a gown but leaving your underwear on under it. Why? If the purpose of the gown is to maintain some level of dignity for the patient, or to keep your examiner from being embarrassed by your nudity (not a great reason), then there are only two choices:

1) Strip completely (including removal of all underwear) and wear the stupid gown. The gown is there to keep you covered.

2) Forgo the stupid gown and keep your underwear on. The underwear is there to keep you covered.

Why would you ever need both?

I've been given both. I definitely prefer the cloth over the paper.