Attending Mass while injured: a clothing question

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Hello 🙂

I first want to say that I’m not starting this topic to discuss the general topic of how people should dress for Mass. My question is specific to my situation, but perhaps it will also help others who may find themselves in a similar quandary at some point.

I go to Mass six days per week. When I attend Mass, I make sure certain parts of me are covered, including my knees. So I come to church in skirts/dresses that fall below the knee, or in trousers. When I wear a skirt or dress I always wear nylons or tights, even if it’s 35°C/95°F and humid. (Fortunately, that doesn’t happen often where I live!) Coming to Mass bare-legged just isn’t my style.

I only have one skirt that is short enough to expose my knees when I sit (standing, my knees are covered). I don’t own a single pair of shorts.

Last Friday, I suffered a fall that left me with, among other injuries, some scrapes on my knee. One wound in particular [yuck alert] leaks and oozes constantly. [/yuck alert] As a result, I need to keep it bandaged all the time to prevent my clothing from getting stained. Unfortunately, this also means it’s just taking even longer to heal and it looks like infection may have set in as well. (It doesn’t help that I keep kneeling on it, either, but that’s a separate problem, one that’s fairly easy to fix. 😊)

The way I see it, I have three choices. I can buy clothing I wouldn’t ordinarily own - shorts, short skirts - and dispense with the nylons so I can leave my injury open to the air in order to speed up the healing process, but that would mean attending Mass dressed in a way I believe to be inappropriate. I could stop going to weekday Mass and restrict myself to Sundays/Holy Days of Obligation until the wound dries up, but…well, even though I have no obligation to attend Mass daily I don’t really want to do that :o Or I could just keep doing what I’ve been doing and the injury heals in whatever time it takes to do so, but I’m afraid it’s actually getting worse rather than better.

If there are other options I haven’t considered, I’m open to hearing them. Otherwise, given the information I’ve provided (and do let me know if you need more details or any clarification), what do you think would be the most appropriate course of action?

Thanks in advance for your (name removed by moderator)ut. I’ve tried for a week to continue with my usual schedule despite this wound but my concerns for the state of my knee are growing, particularly when I see the other scrapes, bumps and bruises sustained in the incident (it was a spectacular fall :D) are well on their way to being fully healed.
 
It seems that kneeling is the issue you should be worrying about… not clothing.
It’s great that you want to kneel in front of the Blessed Sacrament but it is not needed, especially in your condition.
If you do keep the wound bandaged you should clean it at least every other day.
Other than that you can continue to go to Mass every day and use what you normally use.
God bless,
D.
 
Thank you for your response. By kneeling I mean during the Eucharistic prayer, and for the duration most of my weight rests on the other knee.

Like I said, I could easily give that up. But does kneeling for such a short time (we’re only talking about roughly three minutes) make that much of a difference?
 
Wear your longest skirt and instead of pantyhose get a pair of nylon knee-highs. Should take care of your problem. Personally, I’d simply opt to go bare feet in my shoes or wear a nice pair of sandals, but that doesn’t seem your style.
 
I have been told by my doctors that I should not kneel due to knee problems. I sit while others kneel. God is merciful. He understands and He is pleased that we come to Mass despite our physical problems.
 
Phemie said:
Wear your longest skirt and instead of pantyhose get a pair of nylon knee-highs. Should take care of your problem. Personally, I’d simply opt to go bare feet in my shoes or wear a nice pair of sandals, but that doesn’t seem your style.
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The knee-highs are an excellent idea! That is what I wear when I wear dresses or skirts that are almost to my ankle. I haven’t kneeled in church for about 7 years now - bad knees. I just move up to the edge of the pew when others are kneeling. A short time kneeling causes pain, and for the op, her knees need to heal!
 
UpUpAndAway said:
Hello 🙂

I first want to say that I’m not starting this topic to discuss the general topic of how people should dress for Mass. My question is specific to my situation, but perhaps it will also help others who may find themselves in a similar quandary at some point.

I go to Mass six days per week. When I attend Mass, I make sure certain parts of me are covered, including my knees. So I come to church in skirts/dresses that fall below the knee, or in trousers. When I wear a skirt or dress I always wear nylons or tights, even if it’s 35°C/95°F and humid. (Fortunately, that doesn’t happen often where I live!) Coming to Mass bare-legged just isn’t my style.

I only have one skirt that is short enough to expose my knees when I sit (standing, my knees are covered). I don’t own a single pair of shorts.

Last Friday, I suffered a fall that left me with, among other injuries, some scrapes on my knee. One wound in particular [yuck alert] leaks and oozes constantly. [/yuck alert] As a result, I need to keep it bandaged all the time to prevent my clothing from getting stained. Unfortunately, this also means it’s just taking even longer to heal and it looks like infection may have set in as well. (It doesn’t help that I keep kneeling on it, either, but that’s a separate problem, one that’s fairly easy to fix. 😊)

The way I see it, I have three choices. I can buy clothing I wouldn’t ordinarily own - shorts, short skirts - and dispense with the nylons so I can leave my injury open to the air in order to speed up the healing process, but that would mean attending Mass dressed in a way I believe to be inappropriate. I could stop going to weekday Mass and restrict myself to Sundays/Holy Days of Obligation until the wound dries up, but…well, even though I have no obligation to attend Mass daily I don’t really want to do that :o Or I could just keep doing what I’ve been doing and the injury heals in whatever time it takes to do so, but I’m afraid it’s actually getting worse rather than better.

If there are other options I haven’t considered, I’m open to hearing them. Otherwise, given the information I’ve provided (and do let me know if you need more details or any clarification), what do you think would be the most appropriate course of action?

Thanks in advance for your (name removed by moderator)ut. I’ve tried for a week to continue with my usual schedule despite this wound but my concerns for the state of my knee are growing, particularly when I see the other scrapes, bumps and bruises sustained in the incident (it was a spectacular fall :D) are well on their way to being fully healed.
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You mentioned you wear trousers. Just wear those until your wound has healed sufficiently to wear skirts again. When you get home, change clothes.
 
Thank you for all these suggestions 🙂 Okay, I get that need to stop kneeling 😃 I’ll refrain from doing so starting tomorrow (I’ve already been to Mass today).

The long skirt + knee highs idea sounds good, but I would still have to deal with a leaking, oozing wound (again, sorry for the graphic description - at least you don’t have to look at it :eek:) under the skirt, which means covering it with a bandage or the skirt will stain. The amount of liquid involved is enough to locally soak any fabric directly over it. Are there any solutions that would allow me to leave the injury unbandaged so it will dry out and hopefully stop oozing, but that would also allow me to attend Mass without being too revealing? In other words, would it be better to wear a skirt that falls above the knee and dispense with the pantyhose on the grounds that I’m only dressing this way because I’m injured, or should I just not go to Mass until such time that I can dress the way I normally do without having to worry about an open wound leaking under my clothes?

Just as a reminder, this question only applies to daily Mass. I’m going to Mass on Sundays and the Feast of the Assumption regardless, dressed as I usually do, with the injury bandaged just long enough to get me there and back. Thanks again! 🙂
 
LightBound said:
You mentioned you wear trousers. Just wear those until your wound has healed sufficiently to wear skirts again. When you get home, change clothes.
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Yes, thank you. In fact, I wear trousers more often than I wear skirts. The issue is that the wound leaks. I’m trying to find a way to leave it unbandaged so it will dry out, but still be able to go to Mass. If I wear trousers or a long skirt, I’ll need to bandage the injury or it will soak the fabric that touches it. 😦
 
Seems pretty obvious to me. Wear skirt, knee highs and a bandage to Mass and then remove it when you get home. Don’t kneel until your knee heals. You seem to be making things way more complicated than they need to be.
 
You’re probably right. 😊 Sorry, I whacked my head against a two-inch-thick (5cm) steel gate in the same fall that resulted in this knee gash so I’m more easily confused than usual at the moment.

I was thinking it would be better to only bandage the wound once a week (for Sunday Mass) and leave it open all the rest of the time rather than bandage six times weekly, even if it’s only for a couple of hours each time. But I’ll give this suggestion a go. If after another week I’m no better off, I’ll be back :getholy: Thanks again for your (name removed by moderator)ut.
 
OP, reading your description of your knee has made me a bit worried. A scrape should dry and stop discharging anything within a few hours, definitely through the night, when you are not bending/moving it. You say your fall happened last Friday, so the wound is almost a week old. A sustained wound that oozes liquid discharge after a week needs medical attention. I would definitely show it to a doctor.

God bless,
~G.
 
I understand your concern, but as I have been abusing the wound since I suffered it (keeping it covered all the time, kneeling on it…) I’ll give it a day or two of more gentle treatment to see if it will finally get better. If not, then I’ll definitely seek a doctor’s opinion. Thanks 🙂
 
UpUpAndAway said:
Yes, thank you. In fact, I wear trousers more often than I wear skirts. The issue is that the wound leaks. I’m trying to find a way to leave it unbandaged so it will dry out, but still be able to go to Mass. If I wear trousers or a long skirt, I’ll need to bandage the injury or it will soak the fabric that touches it. 😦
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If it’s oozing and looks infected, you should deal with that too.
 
UpUpAndAway said:
I understand your concern, but as I have been abusing the wound since I suffered it (keeping it covered all the time, kneeling on it…) I’ll give it a day or two of more gentle treatment to see if it will finally get better. If not, then I’ll definitely seek a doctor’s opinion. Thanks 🙂
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I am not a doctor. :nope:

But I am a Mom :yup: Take yourself to the doctor.

Even a covered wound shouldn’t still be weeping after 6 days. :tsktsk:

Oh, and stop covering it. And stop kneeling. EVEN on SUNDAY.
 
Okay - I’ve had the wound looked at, was told it’s not infected, and they gave me a special kind of dressing to use on it until it heals up. They didn’t tell me I couldn’t kneel on it but I won’t anyway!

Now, I beg everyone to please stop talking about treatment for my injury…it’s not that I don’t appreciate your concern, but I know dispensing anything that looks like medical advice is forbidden on the forum and I don’t want anyone to get in trouble! :eek:

And once again, thank you all :getholy:
 
There are slips you can buy that are designed for protection from urinary incontinence. They are waterproof in the back. If the wound still leaks through the special bandage, you could obtain one of these slips and wear the waterproof part in the front.

Glad you got medical attention. Hope it heals soon.
 
I presume you have checked the injury out with a doctor? They may be concerned about it oozing unless its a clear colour liquid but am not a doctor at all but urge you to get it properly looked at and they may well tell you to go easy on it. That you may be using it too much walking about etc. If so, if you want it to heal then you best of doing as your medically told for a while. The priest and God would prefer you to do that rather than making youself more ill because you are insistent on going to mass 6 days a week and continuing as though you haven’t had an accident. By not resting up now will give you more complications later. I really hope you’ve had it medically checked out and follow the medics advice about rest for your own sake. If its leaking all through that then a) you should go back to the Doctor if you have already been and b) relax and rest awhile and give it chance to heal up properly before disturbing it because it will never heal if oozes every time you move it… :eek: Get it properly checked upon before it does you more harm 🙂

sorry but if you ask us things you going to get advice whether you want it or not. So you’ve had it checked but get it healed before going to mass again or doing anything again. follow their advice. you do not have to go to mass 6 days a week if you ill or an accident. Wait till the oozing has had time to dry up a little before using your knee/leg for anything:)
 
UpUpAndAway said:
Yes, thank you. In fact, I wear trousers more often than I wear skirts. The issue is that the wound leaks. I’m trying to find a way to leave it unbandaged so it will dry out, but still be able to go to Mass. If I wear trousers or a long skirt, I’ll need to bandage the injury or it will soak the fabric that touches it. 😦
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If this wound is this old and draining this badly you need to see a doctor and get the wound properly assessed, treated, and dressed, then follow his instructions. You’ve already waited too long.
 
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