Why Do Surgeon Wears Blue or Green Scrubs?
Do you know why a surgeon wears blue or green scrubs during surgeries? All of you know that doctors wear white scrub (Scrubs are the germ-free cloths worn by surgeons, nurses, physicians and other workers involved in patient care in hospitals) but Have you ever wondered why surgeons wear either green or blue overalls in the operating room but never white ones? Looking back on the pretty extensive history of hospital scrubs, initially, all medical staff wore white clothing. Then in the early 20th century, one influential doctor switched to green because he thought it would be easier on a surgeon’s eyes, according to an article published in 1998 named “Today’s Surgical Nurse”. Although it is hard to confirm whether green scrubs became popular. Actually, there are some reasons why surgeons wear blue or green scrubs. Firstly, longtime focusing on red color (such as blood) can lead to distracting green illusions on white surfaces. These green illusions could appear if a doctor shifts his gaze from reddish body tissue to something white, like white scrubs of surgeon’s colleagues or white surgical drape (Used during surgery to isolate the surgical site from the other areas of the patient’s body to reduce the risk of surgical site infection). Secondly, in operating rooms under the bright flashlight (called Operating Light or Surgical Light head), it would be extremely difficult to focus due to the glare of reflected light from the white clothing, draping or OT table cover. Green color absorbs all other colors of the visual spectrum and reflects only the green color, so it is much relaxing to our eyes. Thirdly, when once the bed gets soiled with blood its mark would remain even after three or four washings, new patients would find it annoying and uncomfortable to use that cloth or bed cover, this is a practical issue in resource-poor countries where the same cloth is used after disinfection. So why, did the doctor decide on blue and not, say, purple or yellow? Well, green and blue are the opposite of red on the color spectrum, and during an operation, a surgeon is nearly always focusing on red blood, so the blue and green help improve the surgeon’s vision and makes them more sensitive to different shades of red. Finally, THANK YOU for taking the time to read my writing. Bye for now! Written By: AQIB NEAZ ZOHA JINZHOU MEDICAL UNIVERSITY (CHINA) References: National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) Dress A Med Wikipedia Web link: livescience.com quora.com medium.com ast.org lifeinsaudiarabia.net YouTube: NMF News Topwhat
