Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsWhy You Have to Wait to Bathe After SurgeryHow to Clean Your Body After SurgeryHow Long to Wait to BatheWhat About Other Water Activities?Summary
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Why You Have to Wait to Bathe After Surgery
How to Clean Your Body After Surgery
How Long to Wait to Bathe
What About Other Water Activities?
Summary
If you’ve just had surgery, you may think nothing sounds better than a nice, relaxing bath. However, your surgical team likely told you not to take a bath or go swimming right after your procedure.
You’ll probably have to wait at least 12 to 48 hours after your procedure beforetaking a shower, and you may not be able to get back into the bathtub for two weeks or longer.
This article explains why you aren’t allowed to take a bath after surgery and how long you can expect to wait. You’ll also learn some tips for keeping clean until you can bathe again.
Alistair Berg / Getty Images
What to Expect While Healing After Surgery
There are many reasons for bathing restrictions after surgery. For instance:
What Counts as Bathing?Any activity that involves soaking your body in water, like swimming and using a hot tub, is included in bathing.You also need to avoid activities that would expose your wound to water that has not come from a clean tap—for example, wading in a stream.
What Counts as Bathing?
Any activity that involves soaking your body in water, like swimming and using a hot tub, is included in bathing.You also need to avoid activities that would expose your wound to water that has not come from a clean tap—for example, wading in a stream.
Any activity that involves soaking your body in water, like swimming and using a hot tub, is included in bathing.
You also need to avoid activities that would expose your wound to water that has not come from a clean tap—for example, wading in a stream.
What to Do If Your Incision Opens After Surgery
Even though you can’t take a bath, you still need to keep your body and your incision clean while you’re recovering from surgery. This will help lower your risk of complications like an infection.
How to Care For Your Surgery Incisions
To find out how long you need to wait to take a bath, look at the paperwork you were sent home with after your surgery (discharge instructions).
The discharge instructions should have your surgeon’s specific guidance for bathing. If you don’t see any directions about baths, call your surgeon’s office to ask.
In general, the amount of time you will need to wait after your surgery to bathe will depend on the type of surgery you had.
A Word From VerywellMany factors need to be considered when discussing bathing post-surgery. The type of surgery, closure, location, and individual health all affect the timeline. Detailed post-surgical instructions will be given to the patient, but if there is any question or concern, the surgeon should be contacted for clarification.—ALEXIS APPELSTEIN, DO, MEDICAL EXPERT BOARD
A Word From Verywell
Many factors need to be considered when discussing bathing post-surgery. The type of surgery, closure, location, and individual health all affect the timeline. Detailed post-surgical instructions will be given to the patient, but if there is any question or concern, the surgeon should be contacted for clarification.—ALEXIS APPELSTEIN, DO, MEDICAL EXPERT BOARD
Many factors need to be considered when discussing bathing post-surgery. The type of surgery, closure, location, and individual health all affect the timeline. Detailed post-surgical instructions will be given to the patient, but if there is any question or concern, the surgeon should be contacted for clarification.
—ALEXIS APPELSTEIN, DO, MEDICAL EXPERT BOARD
Laparoscopic Surgery
Laparoscopic surgeryis done using small cuts (incisions). It’s considered a “minimally-invasive” procedure.
How long you’ll have to wait to take a bath after laparoscopic surgery depends on a few factors.
First, your surgeon will need to take off the tape strips or stitches (sutures) that are holding your incision together or they need to have fallen off.
Usually, this happens after a week or two, but it can take longer—especially if they are dissolvable sutures.
Once the tape comes off or the stitches have dissolved, you will need to wait until your incision has completely closed. The skin needs to be fully healed, with no redness or bleeding, before you start bathing again.
How to Care for Dissolvable Stitches
Open Surgery
During some surgeries, the surgeon has to make a larger cut. These procedures are called “open surgery” and they are more involved than laparoscopic procedures.
If you have had open surgery, you will need to wait until your surgeon takes out the staples keeping the incision closed before you take a bath. This typically happens about two weeks after surgery.
If you have any gaps in your incision, you will have to wait until they are fully closed and healed before you can take a bath or go for a swim.
Longer Wait TimesThere are some cases where you will need to wait longer to bathe. For example:If you have acast on your leg, you cannot soak it in a bathtub or immerse it in any type of water.After having surgery to remove your uterus (hysterectomy), you will have to avoid taking baths or swimming for at least four weeks.
Longer Wait Times
There are some cases where you will need to wait longer to bathe. For example:If you have acast on your leg, you cannot soak it in a bathtub or immerse it in any type of water.After having surgery to remove your uterus (hysterectomy), you will have to avoid taking baths or swimming for at least four weeks.
There are some cases where you will need to wait longer to bathe. For example:
How Surgeons Close Incisions
In addition to not soaking your body in bathwater, you also need to avoid other activities that involve water or moisture, such as:
Going swimming poses more of aninfection riskthan bathing because your bathwater is clean tap water, while other sources of water are not.
Bacteriain pools, hot tubs, rivers, streams, ponds, and other bodies of water could cause an infection in a wound that isn’t fully healed.
Infections You Can Get From Swimming
After you have surgery, you need to wait until your incision is completely healed before bathing. Your surgeon will tell you how long you need to wait before taking a bath or going swimming.
If you have questions about when it’s safe for you to take a bath or go swimming after surgery, check the instructions you were given after surgery or call your surgeon’s office.
3 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Toon CD, Sinha S, Davidson BR, Gurusamy KS.Early versus delayed post-operative bathing or showering to prevent wound complications. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2015;2015(7). doi:10.1002/14651858.CD010075.pub3U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.Hysterectomy.American College of Surgeons.Wound home skills kit: Surgical wounds.
3 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Toon CD, Sinha S, Davidson BR, Gurusamy KS.Early versus delayed post-operative bathing or showering to prevent wound complications. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2015;2015(7). doi:10.1002/14651858.CD010075.pub3U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.Hysterectomy.American College of Surgeons.Wound home skills kit: Surgical wounds.
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Toon CD, Sinha S, Davidson BR, Gurusamy KS.Early versus delayed post-operative bathing or showering to prevent wound complications. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2015;2015(7). doi:10.1002/14651858.CD010075.pub3U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.Hysterectomy.American College of Surgeons.Wound home skills kit: Surgical wounds.
Toon CD, Sinha S, Davidson BR, Gurusamy KS.Early versus delayed post-operative bathing or showering to prevent wound complications. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2015;2015(7). doi:10.1002/14651858.CD010075.pub3
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.Hysterectomy.
American College of Surgeons.Wound home skills kit: Surgical wounds.
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