Have you ever wondered why doctors and nurses tend to wear blue or green surgical scrubs? Obviously they’re very fetching but is there a reason for those specific shades?
Well, yes, and it all started way back in 1914.
In the early 1900s, surgeons wore brilliant white scrubs that were actually quite harmful during surgery, according to Board Vitals .
This is because an immaculate white shade can blind surgeons for a few moments if they shift their gaze from the dark colour of blood to white. It’s similar to the effect you feel when you see sunlight reflected on snow!
It got so bad that surgeons were reporting headaches from staring at the scrubs of their colleagues for so long.
Why all doctors now wear green or blue scrubs
Following this chaos, one very influential doctor started wearing green scrubs because he thought it would be easier on the eyes and, of course, he was right! Very soon after, surgeons around the world started opting for green or blue scrubs in the operating room.
However, it doesn’t stop there.
It also comes down to colour theory. Green is directly opposite to red on the colour wheel, meaning that greens and blues not only help surgeon’s vision during procedures, but also makes them more sensitive to shades of red.
This ensures that they can pay greater attention to human anatomy, signfiicantly reducing their chances of making a mistake during surgery.
Additionally, The Norton Family, med school graduates on TikTok, pointed out that when blood is on green or blue scrubs, it looks less scary, which is probably pretty important in an operating room!
Just think, if you’ve had a successful surgery recently, a very small part of the success was down to the scrubs your surgeons were wearing!