Medical facilities are ingenious for color coding their scrub tops according to departments in order to be efficient. This not only makes it effective for the patients and their families to recognize medical professionals in a facility, but also helps the medical personals recognize each other as well.

But in such a big facility, with so many employees how do you get assigned scrub tops that are comfortable, functional and flattering. Sometimes you just have to take matters in your own hands and do the right amount of research so you can customize your scrubs yourself. So lets begin our understanding of selecting and upgrading our scrubs.

Benefits of Loose Fitting Scrubs

In the beginning the scrubs that were mandated in the medical facilities, were loose fitting and baggy. At one point in history scrubs for surgeons, male and female nurses were different. However, eventually they realized that basic pants and shirt style and one size fits all type of scrubs was more cost effective and practical in a healthcare setting. And they werent wrong. Whether its scrub tops for women or men here are a few benefits of wearing loose fitting scrubs, such as:

1. They are comfortable and easy to move around in.

2. He keep the medical personal clean as the loose fitting scrubs are less likely to absorb contaminants.

3. They can be easily layered underneath.

4. By layering under the scrubs you can keep the scrubs fresher as the undergarments would soak the sweat.

Benefits of Fitted Scrubs

Although loose fitting scrubs seem like the perfect choice in a profession that require you to be on your feet most of the day, some people however, prefer a more fitted pair of scrubs. Whether its womens scrub tops or mens, some benefits of fitted scrubs are:

1. Fitted scrubs are more form flattering, making you look neater and more put together.

2. Fitted scrubs all you to move comfortably without worrying about the scrubs snagging.

3. Fitted scrub pants dont come under your shoes as they are tailored according to your size.

4. You can layer over the scrubs easily with vests, jackets and pull ups.

How Should Scrub Top Fit?

Whether its womens scrubs tops or mens, when we get assigned any kind of uniform, getting the right fit is necessary to perform our best at work. The best fitting scrubs convey the message that we are comfortable enough to take care of our daily tasks with optimal ease. But how should scrubs fit? There are a few things that should be kept in mind to get the right kind of fitting from your scrubs. They are:

Custom fitting:

In order to utilize the scrubs to the best of their abilities the first thing we need to see is the how they fit on us. While bulky or baggy scrubs might be comfortable they can also get in the way, whereas scrubs shouldnt be so form fitting that they restrict your mobility. So for both mens and womens scrub tops it is important to get the scrubs custom tailored if possible to fit according to your body proportions so you can work more efficiently with comfort and ease.

Choosing the right fabric for Comfort:

When working in healthcare facilities, because you are constantly on the move, on your feet lifting, bending, and reaching it is important to have scrubs that are comfortable. Having perfectly fitting scrubs is one aspect of it. The other is choosing the right fabric.

The fabric that you should choose for your scrubs should be soft, breathable, durable and as sturdy as possible. Usually both mens and womens scrub tops are made of a combination of fabrics like cotton, polyester, nylon, spandex, rayon etc. Choosing scrubs of mainly cotton with a mixture of the other fabrics would ensure comfort through breathability and softness.

Room for Layers

Because the temperature in healthcare facilities is often cold, the mens and womens scrub tops should have enough room that you can wear either a jacket over your scrubs or a layer of thin under-clothing underneath them. These underclothes should be comfortable, thin yet warm. They should have enough fitting to be comfortable and functional without getting in the way.

What to Layer Under the Scrubs?

Under Scrubs:

One of the first and easiest things to layer under the scrubs are called under scrubs. These are shirts and tights that are made from the thinness, softest yet warmest materials. They were specially designed to be worn under the scrubs to be comfortable and form fitting. Their material makes them breathable, durable and stretching does not harm the fabric either.

Shirts Tights:

Another option to wear under the scrubs are thin shirts and tights. Often they are made from cotton and come in a range of sizes so you can pick accordingly. Theyre breathable and stretchable so you can go about your business in ease without worrying about rips and tears or accidental exposure.

Tank Top Vests:

Two of the most comfortable piece of garment to wear underneath the subs are tank tops and vests. Both tank tops and vests are light, and so form hugging that you might forget youre even wearing them. Their ability to stick to your skin is also beneficial as they soak up the sweat, keeping your scrubs clean and fresh for longer.

Tank tops and vests also act as second skin underneath the scrubs and wearing them can avoid accidental exposure during tasks.

What to Layer Over the Scrubs?

Whether its womens scrub tops or mens scrub tops, layering over them is so much simpler and faster. While layering underneath means you have to wear the underclothes all day, layering from the top is a quick, good and easy alternative in order to keep warm only when you need it.

They best way to layer from the top of the scrubs is entirely upon you, your style of comfort and your personal aesthetic. You can choose from jackets, vests or pull ups whatever you prefer. The zippers and buttons ensure you can wear the garment quickly and easily at a moments notice keep you warm and moving.

The additional pockets on the jackets, vest and pull ups are also an asset, as they give you extra storage. The length and top layering of the scrubs also mean that you get extra protection when you bend or sit down to avoid any accidental skin exposure.

Personalizing the Scrub Top

There are quite a few ways in which you can personalize your scrub tops to make them more unique to you. They are:

Neckline and Style:

For both mens scrub tops as well as womens scrub tops, often you have the option to choose your own neckline and style of the scrubs you want. This allows you to select the most flattering scrubs for your physique.

Embroidery:

In both mens and womens scrub tops another way you can personalize your scrubs is by getting custom embroidery of your name on them. This allows you to not only identify your property, but also help the patients and their families in identifying you.

Upper Layer Selection:

Yet another way to customize your scrubs is by the selection of the jackets, vests and pull-ups that you wear. Jackets, vests and pull-ups come is different colors both in solids and prints. You can also wear scrub jackets that have theme specific prints on them for holidays or enjoy the multi colored prints and cartoon characters of your preference.

How to make Scrub Tops to Fit Better?

Sometimes in both mens scrub tops as well as womens scrub tops, the scrubs that get assigned to us might be a little too big and as we know by now, bigger scrubs lead to less productivity and in extension less comfort; so what should we do if we have scrubs that are bigger in size and we cant exchange them for smaller ones?

There are three things you can do to make oversized scrubs fit better. They are:

Alterations

Making alterations to your scrub sets is the most straight forward way to make them fit better. All you need to do is hem the scrub pats according to your size and take in your scrub top shirt along the sewed seams.

Shrink Scrubs

One quick method of making your scrubs fit is by shrinking them in the dryer. Now the simple rule to follow in this regard is that the hotter it is the more the scrubs will shrink. However, for maximum benefit it is important to know what material the scrubs are made of so you know how much dryer heat to use.

Boil scrubs

Though simple, the boiling method to shrink clothes to size is only effective on certain materials like cotton. But since cotton is a fabric that is used most commonly in clothing, this method can be the most effective. All you need to do is boil a bucketful of water and carefully put your scrubs in the boiling water for 5-10 minutes. Then ring the scrubs and hang them to dry.

How to Measure Yourself Properly

The best fitting scrubs are those that are measured instead of eyeballed. But what to measure in order to get the perfect fit is also important. In order to get the perfect fit for both mens and womens scrub tops, there are 6 main places on your body that you need to measure correctly in order to get the perfect fit. They are:

Height

When purchasing scrubs we need to be careful with the size of the scrubs that we get so that the fabric doesnt drown us, nor should it be so tight that it restricts movement. With sizes usually ranging between tall, regular and petite, the best way to find your correct size is by taking off your shoes and having a family member or friend check your real height. If you are under 54 you are considered petite. Women who are 58 or above are considered tall. The height between 54 to 58 is considered regular. Understanding your size is crucial as these labels take into consideration the lengths of the skirts, pants and sleeves of the scrubs.

Chest:

In order to get the accurate measurement of your chest, you need to find out its circumference. What you need to do is wrap a measuring tape around your shoulder blades, under your armpits and over the fullest part of your breast. This gives you the most accurate measurement of your chest area, allowing you to size your scrubs correctly.

Waist:

In order to measure your waist, you need to stand with your feet together and loosely place the measuring tape around your natural waistline. Your waistline is the area between the bottom of your ribcage and the top of your hipbone.

Hips:

To measure your hips keep your feet slightly apart and measure the widest part of your hips while still wearing your undergarments. Do not measure without your undergarments as that will give a different measurement and since you will be wearing undergarments under your scrubs this measurement is better with undergarments on.

Outside leg:

The measurement of the outside leg is based on your preference. This is the length of the pants that we measure. To measure the length or outside leg of the pants, place the tape measure where you normally wear your pants and run it down to the part where you want the bottom of your pants to end. For scrubs usually the bottom part of the pants comes towards the ankles. This measurement gives you the perfect length according to your height, physique and style preference.

Inseam:

The inseam is measured by placing the measuring tape at the crotch of the pants and running it down to the bottom of the ankles.

Conclusion

There was a time when men and women wore the same sized scrubs that were not flattering or functional for either one. But now because of the option of custom tailoring and sizing we can get the correctly fitting scrubs for ourselves. This helps us in not only boost our pride and confidence but also allows us to utilize the physical aspect of medical training to its full potential without being distracted and uncomfortable in our scrubs.