Lower body garment apparatus

A lower body garment apparatus for a patient, having a lower region between the waist and the thigh of said patient, said lower region including at least one of a right and a left hip region, and further including a lower rear region and a lower front region, said lower body garment apparatus protecting said lower region of said patient while facilitating dress, undress and accessibility to the lower region of said patient with minimal movement and reorientation of said patient, to, in turn, minimize the risk of trauma and injury to said patient, said lower body garment apparatus comprising:

• a front panel having a right edge, a left edge, a top edge, and a bottom edge, said front panel configured to cover at least a portion of said lower front region of said patient;
• an encircling panel having a first edge, a second edge, an inner surface, an outer surface, an upper edge and a lower edge, said encircling panel extending around at least a portion of each of said at least one right and left hip regions, and further extending around at least a portion of said lower rear region of said patient and around at least a portion of said lower front region of said patient;
• first means for releasably attaching said right edge of said front panel to said first edge of said encircling panel,
• second means for releasably attaching said left edge of said front panel to said second edge of said encircling panel;
• and
• a substantially uniform padded member operably attached to at least a portion of at least one of said inner and outer surfaces of said encircling panel so as to provide padding for substantially the entirety of the left and right hip regions and at least a portion of said lower rear region and said lower front region.