Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

General health

Mumsnet doesn't verify the qualifications of users. If you have medical concerns, please consult a healthcare professional.

ECG at GP surgery

55 replies

AutumnDance · 13/01/2022 11:33

My GP wanted me to do this and I am booked for an ECG. I did a search on Mumsnet about ecg and apparently you are asked to take off your clothes on top including a bra?

Is this the procedure in all GP surgeries? Has anyone had it done before?
I don't want to be naked on top exposing my boobs. I don't mind wearing a bra. Or would the let me wear a vest and pull it up or down?

OP posts:
GinIronic · 13/01/2022 12:48

I’ve had many ECG tests and I have never removed my bra or top. I don’t wear a wired bra - it’s always a crop top. The wires go under my clothes. The person doing the tests are quick and efficient because they’ve done these procedures hundreds of times. Stop frightening the OP!

GinIronic · 13/01/2022 12:51

... and please don’t say the nurses have seen it all before. The OP is concerned about dignity and consent - it’s not about the nurse.

CharlotteRose90 · 13/01/2022 12:54

How weird I have them every 3 months in hospitals and GP surgery’s and never once have I had to take a bra off. I wear a tishirt or a shirt and take that off but leave the bra on.

MrsPelligrinoPetrichor · 13/01/2022 13:18

I didn't need to remove my bra and was given a modesty sheet and the curtain was shut while it was being done. That was at the GP surgery.

hashbrownsandwich · 13/01/2022 19:44

@sashh

Can you explain your reasoning for this comment?

I am mentored and trained in this area by cardiologists so I would be interested to know why you don't agree with them?

Because ECGs predate the invention of the bra.

Because I know the difference between V leads and C leads.

Because of 4 years training to be a clinical physiologist.

Because of years of experience. I started my career with welsh cups if anyone else remembers them.

And I'm going to really upset the apple cart, if anyone is working around clothing to take a 12 lead ECG then they are not taking one accurately.

Anyone can place ECG leads with their eyes closed because they electrodes are positioned by touch not sight (except V3).

Because I know enough about ECGs that I know when to use a baby's forehead as a substitute for a left leg.

Oh and I also don't like to see limb electrodes on shoulders / torso - they should be on wrists and ankles (or occasionally a forehead).

Fair play, I respect your reasoning.

I had a bollocking once for placing the leads on the shoulders and ankles rather than wrists and ankles. Never did it since!

Cloudsarebright · 13/01/2022 19:45

I have them weekly, never take my bra off underwired or otherwise.

Pinkandpurplehairedlady · 13/01/2022 19:50

I’ve had quite a few in hospital and have never had to take my bra off - I normally wear a sports bra or a soft crop top and they just work round it.

daisyjgrey · 13/01/2022 19:53

Hi OP, I had an ECG last Christmas and was really worried about the same thing. I have PTSD related to medical procedures and I struggle with taking a sock off let alone my top and bra. Everyone I spoke to said "you have to do it, it's only a minute, it's nothing" but to me it isn't "nothing" it's very much everything, even after therapy.

Mine was at the hospital but it would've been the same at the GP's. I told them before hand that I have a problem, I took my partner with me for support and I made sure the person doing the ECG knew that I wasn't comfortable, my partner did this for me before I went in.

I did have to take my too and bra off, and I did do a bit of a cry while it was just me and my partner behind the curtain but I was given a big towel/blanket to cover up with and I was lying down and covered before the technician came in.

You have to move around a little, leaning to the side and turning a bit but I was covered the whole time. Her hand was under the blanket with the probe but she never actually touched me, it was only the probe.

She left us alone for a minute afterwards so I could get sorted etc and was really accommodating.

I don't know if that helps at all, but if you explain before the procedure that you don't want to be exposed and if you're not covered then you don't feel comfortable continuing then you should be ok. Take someone with you for support and make sure they know how to advocate for you if needed.

TroysMammy · 13/01/2022 19:58

The nurse can give you some couch roll to put over yourself for modesty after the pads have been stuck on. I was a guinea pig in work when the Nurse needed to see if the ECG machine was working, it wasn't and even though she is a colleague she was totally professional.

daisyjgrey · 13/01/2022 19:59

Oh sorry, I was taking about an echo, I also had a 24 hour ECG put on at the same time. Not a 12 lead though. She put that on while I was stood up and I threaded the wires under my bra and she placed them.

OnceuponaRainbow18 · 13/01/2022 20:01

@AutumnDance

I’ve had 50 ECG scans, never removed my bra, they put the sticky things underneath them.

Sidge · 13/01/2022 20:12

Anyone doing a 12 lead ECG with a patient fully dressed isn’t doing it properly.

You need to really be able to visualise and feel all the rib spaces to place the stickers correctly, and that’s where a bra strap goes in most women.

I will use couch roll or a patients own clothing to provide cover and maintain dignity but will ask them to remove a bra. A crop top isn’t such a problem as they tend to be looser and can be pulled up away from the chest wall.

Paramedics will usually do an ECG just using 3 leads, which doesn’t require as many stickers and can be quicker to apply. They are sited on the upper chest and lower ribs so don’t tend to need clothing removal.

saraclara · 13/01/2022 20:20

Are you the same poster who OPd about exactly the same thing a few days ago?

If so you got the same mix of answers then, too.
For the record, I've had ECGs with and without a bra on. But personally I'd phone ahead and all of its possible to wear a sports bra or similar for the procedure.

goingtotown · 13/01/2022 20:35

Wear a non wired soft bra. I've never been asked to remove it.

AutumnDance · 13/01/2022 20:49

@saraclara

Are you the same poster who OPd about exactly the same thing a few days ago?

If so you got the same mix of answers then, too.
For the record, I've had ECGs with and without a bra on. But personally I'd phone ahead and all of its possible to wear a sports bra or similar for the procedure.

Different poster
OP posts:
AlphaAlpha · 13/01/2022 22:32

@Sidge

Anyone doing a 12 lead ECG with a patient fully dressed isn’t doing it properly.

You need to really be able to visualise and feel all the rib spaces to place the stickers correctly, and that’s where a bra strap goes in most women.

I will use couch roll or a patients own clothing to provide cover and maintain dignity but will ask them to remove a bra. A crop top isn’t such a problem as they tend to be looser and can be pulled up away from the chest wall.

Paramedics will usually do an ECG just using 3 leads, which doesn’t require as many stickers and can be quicker to apply. They are sited on the upper chest and lower ribs so don’t tend to need clothing removal.

We do a full 12 lead. Bloody bastard machines to be carry up and down flights of stairs all day. My left shoulder is knackered.
sashh · 14/01/2022 03:57

I had a bollocking once for placing the leads on the shoulders and ankles rather than wrists and ankles. Never did it since!

Lol.

Are you in London, I think I might know the consultant, he's an electrophysiology specialist if it is.

@Sidge you can do my ECG any day.

Sidge · 14/01/2022 07:31

@AlphaAlpha crikey poor you. Take care of yourself, you guys are absolute rocks 💐

@sashh thanks mate 😁

I remember once a colleague on the ward, years ago, asking me why a patients ECG looked funny. She’d put the leads on the patients right chest wall 🤣 (they didn’t have dextrocardia either). I think she’d had a bad shift.

sashh · 14/01/2022 17:04

@Sidge we had a semi regular in A and E, he did have dextrocardia, when there were new Drs we'd stick the ECG under their nose and tell them yes it was actual dextrocardia.

Sidge · 14/01/2022 19:13

@sashh I’ve never seen it! Loads of other weird shizzle but never that lol

Spudina · 14/01/2022 19:46

Ido ECGs all the time and I usually manage to work round bras. I don’t fully take off the top layers if I can help it (but I do have to lift them up) PS I’ve seen hundreds of boobs. I don’t care what they look like!

DaisyWaldron · 14/01/2022 19:57

I've got one on Tuesday. I don't mind going topless, so I'm not much use to you for that, but it's nice to someone else is having one, too.

sashh · 15/01/2022 01:19

[quote Sidge]@sashh I’ve never seen it! Loads of other weird shizzle but never that lol[/quote]
Yep, the first time I was, "check the leads are on the right arms".

Bunnyfuller · 16/01/2022 01:27

@sashh

An ecg does not look at heart structure, it looks at a heartbeat. It tracks the movement of electricity around the heart, and checks that the path the electricity takes, and the timings are correct. As the electricity move through the heart, it triggers the contractions which pump the blood around.

Scans can look at structure, and an angiogram looks at the movement of blood through the coronary arteries.

Not sure why you think something measuring electrical pulses can read structure!

Noway100 · 16/01/2022 01:36

I had to remove my bra for an ECG in a private hospital recently and will admit to being surprised. I didn't mind though as the nurses were female. I didn't get one (covid maybe?) but I don't see why they couldn't give you a sheet to place over to preserve your dignity once the electrodes have been placed,