www.incontinentsupport.org

Hey all. I have a question for those of you who wear plastic pants. I recently bought a pair of blue kins plastic pants to wear over my disposables abena extra's. They are not so much for urine absorption, they are primarily in case I leak stool out the diaper. I find them to be comfortable and I wear them everywhere. I find that they compress the diaper and cut down on some of the noise when I wear lighter clothing, such as gym shorts. Overall, I am impressed with their performance and will continue to wear them.

My question is....For those of you who wear plastic pants, what do your doctors say about them. I don't want them to get the wrong idea if I show up to the doctor with a diaper and blue plastic pants on. They are not puffy with alot of excess material, they are semi-form fitting and they are a little small. So its not like they are they ruffly kind. They hug my body and actually serve a purpose. I was just wondering if your doctors comment on your plastic pants. I don't want them thinking I'm an AB or something weird. I intend to ask my doctor her opinions on them when I see her in september. I don't want to look like a fool.

My doctors all know I wear the Abena's but I'm just not too sure on the plastic pants. But I feel like they would help me. My doctors may not say anything, but I just have no experience in this matter.

Don't worry about it too much. If they ask tell them why you feel better protected with the plastic pants over your diaper. I feel more secure that way also when I go out. I have had a few leaks at home when not wearing plastic pants over my diaper. When out and about I rarely trust the disposable diaper to be fail-safe. The extra security of the pants does help, especially if it is just a small leak.

Doug

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When life hands you a lemon, make lemonade.

When it comes down to it, it is only those who need the protection these products provide who really understand the thing. Doctors are taught about incontinence and how to help patients but that is not the same and living with it. If asked about it, one ought to educate the doctor.

I have the same thing with my wheelchair - doctors have no idea how one is used or what works so one has just to explain.

Whenever I have a doctor's appointment, I usually have on just a disposable. There is one case I purposely wear plastic pants with a light diaper on and that is when I go to my dematologist. She does a full body look over and has to be able to slip part of the diaper down to see my skin. She never comments about it and knows why I'm wearing it. With a disposable, you have to untape it and pull it down, so the plastic pants works out great. ....Paul Martin

Paul and Everyone,
Thank you for the replies. I was hoping to ignite some discussion on the board. I go to the dermatologist too. She sees me in all my glory during her routine skin exam. I have to strip down to just a diaper when I see her. So next time I see her, I am going to wear my plastic pants over the diaper.
If she asks, I will gladly explain and educate her on incontinence. I don't see the dermatologist for a while though. I only go once a year. I see the VA doctor in September for a physical and I see the Psychiatrist in September as well. The VA doc is the only one who will see me in a diaper in September. I am going to make an appointment for dermatology for October I think, I believe I went last in November of '10.

I am going to ask my psychiatrist, being a medical doctor, what she would think if she saw a patient in a diaper and plastic pants at an exam. Physical exams aren't her kind of medicine, but she will still have an opinion as a medical professional.

The only doctor I generally see is my urologist, and protection of any kind is probably common. At any rate, it was his recommendation that I wear protection in the first place, and the home healthcare supplier that I was referred to recommended diapers and plastic pants together. That was 14 years ago when disposables were pretty unreliable, but I still use that combination today.

I've never worn plastic pants to the doctor. Just a disposable which my doctor is used to. Most of the time I don't even undress at the doctor unless it is a yearly physical or situation that requires undressing. When I do need to undress the nurse will have me undress down to my diaper and give me one of those tie in the back exam shirts. She always puts one of those disposable pads on the exam table and has me hop on the table. If I am going to physical therapy I will wear a pair of plastic pants over a disposable for the extra protection from leaks. It seems physical therapy can sometimes cause me to wet a little heavier that normal. My physical therapist is aware of me having no control of my bladder. I had a huge accident on her table several years ago which was very embarassing. I went wearing only one of those "Healthdry" underwear which just aren't made for heavy incontinence. Big mistake.

I too tried the Salk HealthDri underwear. It was when I first became incon. I was only having minor dribbling issues. I rapidly moved from those to guards when they let me down. I was in the military at the time and the Navy docs didn't know what to make of a Marine wearing incontinence underwear or guards. I told them I had incon issues and they rapidly sent me to a uro doc off base.

I've worn plastic pants to doctor appointments many times.
None of them have ever said a thing. Oncologist, Primary Care, Dermatologist, etc. all seem singularly unimpressed. Of course, I make sure to wear plain colors or white, none of the print pants (which I don't have many of anyway). Even so, I doubt if they'd say anything.

Ari,
Thats good to know that you have successfully worn them to the doctors and the doctors were not phased. I am going to wear them and see what they say. I am not ashamed and if they have any questions, I will talk to them. But it shouldn't be any big deal. I'm sure they get it all the time. Question though, are you wearing them with disposables or cloth. For me, I could never wear cloth to the doctor. They are too bulky and too hard for me to get in and out of. I believe a disposable is the only option for me at the doctor. The plastic pants that I have are solid in color. I would never wear anything with prints. I believe they are very conservative. Nothing to be ashamed of.