What to Wear to Procedure Appointments

Picking out an 'outfit' for certain procedures may seem completely ridiculous, but there are some very compelling reasons why your procedure outfits can be attributed to comfort. 

Here are some of my outfit tips depending on the appointment/procedure: 

Dentist

Wear your hair down or in a braid. Avoid buns or ponytails. When you're lying down on your back, the last thing you need is some hard lump of a ponytail digging into your head. An outfit with socks is preferable because it gets cold in those dentist chairs. 

MRI/CT Scan/X-ray

Sports bra, leggings, and a warm top. Do not wear anything with metal. That way, sometimes they will allow you to wear your own clothing instead of having to change into a gown. Avoid jewelry and, again, wear your hair down or in a braid. 

ER Visit

If at all possible, go in sweatpants, wear socks or slippers, and bring a hoodie. This is for comfort and for appearance. Unfortunately, showing up to the ER in dress clothes, work clothes, or put-together at all when you have invisible disease will often result in 'looking too healthy to be at the ER'. It may not, but (speaking from experience), an outfit can often contribute to misunderstanding the severity of the situation. 

SI Joint Injections

These injections are brutal (whether they are Cortisone injections, nerve freezing/ablation, etc...). The last thing you want to be doing is moving around too much afterwards. In this case, wearing soft underwear and a dress are the best options. I wear my hair up in braids to keep the hair off of my face without pulling too much (and for a mask to stay nicely), with a shift dress and a sports bra. The hair is important because if it's in my face when I begin to feel nauseated, it makes it worse. With the dress, after the procedure, I don't have to get undressed and re-dressed when my back is so incredibly sore. All I do is let my dress down. That's it. No bending, no fiddling, no jean waistband or buttons, nothing tight to my skin. Comfortable. 

I also specifically wear dangly bracelets or a few rings to give me something to fiddle with so I can distract myself. (Seriously, diamonds aren't just for special occasions, sparkly jewelry helps with distracting from pain 😉). 

I am off to my second appointment of nerve freezing today, and this is my outfit: