Clothes for Post-Surgery Wear

I would like to know what is safe to wear after surgery in the hospital and at home...does anything around the waist cause discomfort or should you stay with nightgowns??? Also any advice on panties....is their a particular style that feels better???

Welcome to Hyster Sisters, Becky! You'll find some very helpful information in the drop down menus on the main page of this site. Look under "Ladies in Waiting" for some helpful hints.

I had an abdominal incision. I wore sweatpants home from the hospital and it didn't bother me. I bought underpants (cotton briefs) a size larger than I normally wear to allow for the swelly belly that comes with the surgery. *Hint: If you are going to wear elastic around your waist, put a maxi-pad between you and the elastic. I would cover my incision (vertical) with the pad. It helped a lot.


I didn't wear pajamas because I didn't want the elastic constantly around my waist. I wore cotton nightshirts. They're comfortable, and short enough that they won't get tangled when you're getting in and out of bed. There is a cute nightshirt for sale in the Hyster Sisters store, and Kathy ships them immediately. You could probably get yours before your Tuesday surgery. If not, it would be comfortable and fun to wear at home.

You probably have lots of questions, and if you don't now, you will before Tuesday. Best wishes to you. You've found a great site for help and support.

I am 3 weeks post-op.

When I was at the hospital, I wore their nightgowns because I had a shunt in one hand that was used to drip in fluids and painkillers. Their nightgowns are closed on the shoulder with snaps.

For coming home, I wore soft, baggy cotton underwear and pants and step in shoes and they worked out fine. I have a long vertical incision that was closed with staples for 10 days. (The little legs do not close in the back; they just call them staples.) Because of the staples, I spent those days mostly wearing nightgowns or long T-shirts but no underwear unless I absolutely had to.

My belly is still pretty sore and I am most comfortable wearing all cotton underwear and baggy pants with stretchy waistbands. I read on this site about the benefits of step in slippers and shoes and it’s been true for me. I still haven’t tried bending over to tie any laces. My belly is swollen and tender still.

hi im pre-op may 17th My doc told me the best thing to wear if I must wear pants and panties would be the old lady style panties that come up over the belly and draw string pants as they are not confining. hope this helps
brenda

I really liked wearing flowing dresses with no waist in them. The first several days though I just wore loose night gowns or long night shirts. Since I had no bleeding afterwards I wore no underwear unless I absolutely had to. I figured around the house it didn't really matter and I had a nice warm blanket over my lap most of the time if someone came by anyway. Strectchy pants and loose shorts are good too. I like wearing Love Pat Panties now because they are stretchy and they feel like they give support to my sore tummy, of course if you have staples they may snag on the nylon and that wouldn't be good.

Shelle1962

i will have my tah on may 24th, i bought house dress, sun dress, ect. im in calif and we are starting to heat up so i think any type of pants for myself will be to warm, and i do want to be comfortable. i also bought undies in cotton an extra size bigger as suggested here on the message boards.

good luck with your surgery and a fast recovery!!!!

While in the hosptal, I used their gowns since they had snaps on the arms... made life much easier with the IV, pain pump, etc. I also found that the nurses needed to check the incision a few times a day for the first 48 hours after surgery and it was a whole lot easier with a gown where there was an open back (shifting up in a regular nightgown caused major discomfort). After the equipment was taken away, I then used my regular nightgowns in the hospital - much more appropriate for visitors, especially if you have to get out of bed while they are there! While in the hospital, I was gien these really sexy (sarcastic commetn) mesh undies but they were really comfortable. They loked like a rectangle and it took me a while to figure out how they fit. They were a one size fits all undie.

When I was home, loose sweats were good. I tried not to sit around in a nightgown all day - it made me feel like I was still really sick so I forced myself to get dressed every day. I prefer bikini undies but that really quickly became a problem... the elastic sat right on the incision site! YIKES!!! I bought undies one size larger for the first few weeks.

I also found that instinctively I would pull my pants up to the abdominal area. not thinking about the incision. The first time I did that, I nearly hit the roof with the pain that came as such a surprise. Be careful how you pull your pants up (seriously) - we tend to pull up the front first and then hike up the back before the front is really in place (particulalry with sweats)... something I NEVER would have considered!

Upon return to work, I found that I could not wear pants with a zip front - every time I sat down, the zipper pushed into my belly. I wore a lot of elastic waist casual pants so my tummy had room to expand during the day.

Hope these suggestions help!

I swore by the cheap stretch leggings from Target. The elastic is very very forgiving and I found them more comfortable than sweats. It's all I wore the whole time I was home recovering. (Okay, I wore a shirt, too.) My husband spoiled me rotten, so I was fine with getting dressed. Warning: some women have found that if they get dressed their families assume they are all better. Think about your family and dress accordingly. You need your rest.

I had a TAH and I took with me some really comfy oversized cotton nightshirts. Even with an epidural and IV I had no trouble getting in and out of them. Yep, the nurses are going to want to check your incision each day. I couldn't even think about wearing anything around my waste.

The best thing was that by the time I went home I hadn't worn undies in 4 days. I guess I was feeling a bit rebelious and opted for no panties for the ride home, just my nightshirt, robe and my fluffy pink slippers. I mean, at that point who cares.... You're gonna crawl right into bed when you get home anyway.

Ahhhhhhh, but the rebel in me was rejoicing in NOT having to wear panty liners or pads for the first time in years and years, so I went pantiless for 2 whole weeks till I went to church for the first time. I figured it wouldn't *DO* for the rector's wife to be caught without any undies on.

I don't know about you, but summer's here as far as I'm concerned. I'd stick to oversized T Shirts (like my hystersister T shirt) or nightgowns or moo moos ( does anyone even sell those anymore? ) or night shirts. If you *must* wear pant then I could recommend the cotton (T shirt material type) elastic/draw string pants that they sell in the Walmart men's dept. They're so comfy.

I would also recommend that you ask your doc about an abdominal binder to help you through the first few weeks of recovery. Mine was a Godsend. I was able to move around without fear of feeling like I was going to disturb or pop something. It protected me against my loving dogs and enabled me to sleep on my side when I got home. It's also handy for when you're getting up and around more.

I had a TVH with Rectocele repair and the perinium area was the part of my body that was sore.

I took night gowns to the castle, along with oversized panties. However, the belly went down once the huge fibroid and oversized uterus were taken out, and the panties were really uncomfortable. Thankfully, I had a few snugger panties I could wear.

At home, I wore pyjamas for most of my recovery: reminded my children that mommy was recovering and needed TLC. It worked. When I did dress, I was most comfortable wearing loose sweats. It took over two months before I could wear anything stiff or tight (such as jeans). Even now, almost 5 months later, I can't wearn my jeans for more than 8 hours or so.

I had my surgery in winter and had to wear nylons whenever I wore a dress. Hmmm... I didn't wear dresses for several months after my surgery, since the nylons were so uncomfortable. Same went with dress pants: too snug, can't stand them.