Scrubs for Hairy Men

[Viesta]

So I'm a dude with quite a bit of chest and arm hair.

I am going to be wearing scrubs for the first time soon, so I thought I'd get some input on my situation.

I was thinking of wearing a thin white undershirt to cover up the chest fur, and wear my scrubs over that. From what I've seen of scrubs, they expose a whole lot of chest..... Is this acceptable?

As for the forearms, well I'm not sure. Is it "unhygienic" to have a lot of arm hair? Here's an example of what I'm talking about: http://hairsite.com/serendipity/uploads/checkingin/ArmHAir.1.jpg . I guess I could start waxing ....

While I'm at it, I might as well ask about shaving. Are male nurses expected to be clean shaven? I can't shave every day due to sensitive skin, but as with my chest and arms, I get a whole lot of facial hair growing, and fast...I get stubble like 6 hours after I shave so they'd probably want me to shave everyday .....

help

[Thujone]

I would say we are expected to maintain a clean and professional appearance, I don't think that means shaving our faces every single day, but I would say at least every 2-3 days, I don't think it's very practical to expect anything more. As far as arm and chest hair goes, I do not believe that it matters. I mean if it bothers you that much then put a shirt under your scrubs, personally, I did not, and my arms look a lot like that picture, and no one has ever said anything to me about it.

[Trenia]

You don't need to wax your arm hair. If you're uncomfortable with the length, which I am assuming you may be because of the post, just trim it up with clippers. There are plenty of youtube videos that could help you out.

[Bruce_Wayne, ASN, RN]

I have a hairy chest too, and I always wear a white undershirt to prevent my big hairy chest from poking out of my scrubs.

As far as arm hair goes, as long as your bathing regularly and not shedding hair like an alpaca I think you'll be ok.

As a personal opinion, I think nurses that go multiple days without shaving look unprofessional. But I think it's a common enough look that you can do it without being called on it. I'm pretty sure some people I work with specifically groom themselves to look as if they haven't shaved for one day. It's their look I guess.

Have you looked into switching to electric shaving for your sensitive skin?

Or on the other extreme you could keep a short well trimmed beard? After you get a beard grown in it can be easier to maintain than shaving daily.

Another thing r/t body hair, I don't shave my chest but I like to keep the hair around my collar line trimmed short enough that they don't poke out over my undershirt. Just throwing that out there as a tip.

[ButtonNose]

Hey guys, I don't think it's necessary to start waxing and shaving yourself to go to work. I think if you have some crazy chest hair you can trim the top to look more controlled. For your arm hair... maybe you can wear a long sleeve shirt under your scrubs? However, one of my clinical instructors had extremely hairy arms and he didn't try to cover it up at all- he wore his scrubs with just a t-shirt underneath. Whatever makes you feel most comfortable, I guess!

[Whispera, MSN, RN]

It's not as if you're braiding it or dying it purple and orange or soaking it in gravy! It's arm hair, not the plague!

As for facial hair, I think it's important to look well groomed. If that means shaving daily, then that's what you need to do. I wouldn't want a grubby nurse taking care of me. I'd wonder what else they did that was grubby...