By Aasra Editorial Team | India's First Adaptive Clothing Brand
Aasra has served thousands of patients and caregivers across India since 2020, providing adaptive clothing that makes dressing independent and dignified for people recovering from surgery, dealing with disability, or facing the challenges of old age.
Someone on maintenance haemodialysis spends roughly twelve hours a week connected to a machine, usually across three sessions, usually for years. Very little thought goes into what they wear for it, which is strange, because clothing affects almost every part of that experience.
Haemodialysis: the arm is the whole problem
Most patients on haemodialysis in India have an arteriovenous fistula or graft, usually in the forearm or upper arm. Two needles go into it at the start of each session and stay there for the duration.
This creates a specific clothing requirement that ordinary clothes handle badly. The sleeve has to come up above the access site and stay there for four hours without constricting the arm. A fitted sleeve pushed up to the elbow becomes a tourniquet, which is exactly what you do not want on the arm carrying the fistula. A sleeve that will not go up at all means changing into a gown in a busy unit.
What works is a top that either has a genuinely loose sleeve, or opens at the side so the whole arm can be freed without removing the garment. A side-opening t-shirt or the men's version can be opened on one side to expose the access arm while the rest stays on and stays warm.
If your access is a tunnelled catheter in the chest or neck rather than a fistula, the requirement shifts to front-opening. The same principle applies: the staff need access to a small area, and you should not have to undress to give it to them.
You will be cold
Almost everyone feels cold during dialysis. Blood is circulating outside the body and returning slightly cooler, most units run air conditioning, and blood pressure often drops during the session, which makes it worse.
Dress in layers you can add and remove one-handed, because one arm will be immobilised for four hours. Cotton is the right base layer for an Indian climate: warm enough in an air-conditioned unit, breathable enough for the journey there and back in the heat.
Peritoneal dialysis is a different problem
If you are on peritoneal dialysis, the access is a catheter through the abdominal wall, and the concern is the exit site rather than the arm.
The rules here are simple and largely about waistbands. Nothing tight across the abdomen. Nothing with a seam, button or elastic band sitting on or near the exit site, because friction there is an infection risk and peritonitis is the complication that matters most in PD. High-waisted or low-slung is fine as long as it clears the site. Anything that sits directly on it is not.
Fluid in the abdomen also changes your shape through the day, sometimes noticeably. Waistbands need to accommodate that rather than fight it, which is a strong argument for adjustable or side-opening designs over fixed elastic. Our catheter access trousers and the women's version are built with side access and a loose waist for exactly this kind of situation.
Practical things that make sessions easier
- Slip-on footwear. You will often be lightheaded after a session as fluid has been removed. This is not the time to be bending over shoelaces.
- Keep one set of clothes for dialysis days. Most patients end up with a rotation of two or three outfits that work well, and it removes a decision from a day that already has enough of them.
- Avoid anything you would be upset to get blood on. Needle sites bleed at the end of a session, and it happens to everyone eventually.
- Nothing that has to go over the head after a session. Arms are sore and you may be tired and dizzy.
Protecting the fistula between sessions
A fistula is a lifeline and it is worth protecting outside the unit too. Avoid tight sleeves, elasticated cuffs and anything constricting on that arm. Do not let a blood pressure cuff be put on it. Loose sleeves are not just more comfortable, they are the safer choice.
This is one of those situations where adaptive clothing is useful not because of disability but because of medical hardware. The garment simply needs to leave one part of the body alone.
Our catheter and dialysis care collection is built around access without undressing. Everything is 100% cotton, machine washable, with free shipping across India and cash on delivery available. If you need a specific opening position for your access site, message us on WhatsApp and we will make it to measure.