How to Wash Your Knee After Surgery

Surgery on your knee is not to be taken lightly. The largest joint in the human body, the knee is suspended in a network of muscles, tendons, ligaments and cartilage. Once a surgery has been performed on the knee, the result of the surgery will often largely depend on the care you take during rehabilitation. One of the things you must do is care for your incision properly.

Things You'll Need

• Warm water
• Mild soap
• Clean towels

Instructions

1. Find out from your doctor exactly when you can wash your knee. Do not go by anyone's suggestion or your own desires. Your doctor knows when it is safe to get the incision site wet. Follow your doctor's instructions.

2. Do not take a bath with a healing surgery site. Take a shower. Running water is cleaner and moves debris and dirt away and out of the wound. Soaking a wound is not a good idea for many reasons; it can loosen the healing tissue, causing possible incision rupture. Exposing the wound to a warm, wet environment with bacteria from other areas of the body for a sustained period creates a breeding ground for infection. Avoid long-term wetness. Get in, get clean and get out.

3. Clean your body as normal first, in a timely manner. Save the surgery site for shortly before you exit the shower. This will give any scabs, debris or other detritus time to loosen and wash away on their own before you clean the incision site.

4. Using a mild soap - preferably one without perfumes or skin softeners or any other additives - gently soap the surgery site one time. Do not scrub. Do not use a washcloth, sponge or anything other than your clean hand and clean, warm water. Soap it gently and thoroughly, rinse and get out of the shower.

5. Dry yourself as normal, saving the surgery site for last, then pat the site dry lightly and carefully with a different clean, dry towel. Allow the wound to air dry for at least 30 minutes before applying any dressing ordered by the doctor.

Tips & Warnings

• If you miss some scabs or other material caused by bleeding or drainage that is not near the incision, you may scrub these off. But if the site is tender in any way, do not do anything but lightly soap and rinse it.

• Never ever scrub a surgery site, ever. This would be a huge mistake, and the consequences--like pulled incision or infection--can be dire.

References

• Dr. Dauphine, MD.
• Nicholas Institute of Sports Medicine and Athletic Trauma
• University of Delaware