Hygiene After ACL Surgery: Bathing & Showering Guide

May 23, 2025

Hygiene After ACL Surgery: Bathing & Showering Guide

After ACL surgery, maintaining basic hygiene can be difficult. You’re likely dealing with pain, limited mobility, and possibly strong pain medications—none of which make bathing easy. This guide offers practical tips to help you stay clean while staying safe.

Pre-Surgery Prep: Make Life Easier Later

If you don’t already have a handheld shower head, if you possibly can, Install a handheld shower head with the faucet within easy reach. These can be had for showers and there’s also options to get items that can attach to a tub faucet. Though these may lack pressure of a regular shower, they still work.
Consider adding a shower chair or plastic bench. Some even use a milk crate-style block to elevate the surgical leg as well. It’s possible just leaving a leg hanging down while sitting on a shower seat or bench could cause a lot of pain.
Consider non-slip mats, grab bars, and place towels and clothing within reach. Your usual bath mats may be a problem if you’re using your crutches on them. Where they might have seemed solid before, they could slip under your crutches. Test this out beforehand and consider either removing or replacing them or what technique you’re going to use to navigate them if you’re using crutches or other mobility aids.
If you have a bathtub with sliding glass doors, consider removing the doors before surgery for better access. A shower curtain setup works better with adaptive seating. If you have the sliding glass doors, there’s likely a track attached to the tub. So even if you remove the doors, that could be a challenging part to get over unless using a seat that’s designed to straddle the tub sides. While you may still want the curtain, if using a handheld shower head, if you’re careful you might not need one.
Consider cleansing wipes for the first few days when full showers may be too difficult or not yet allowed.

Here’s an example of one setup with a shower seat. Now, you might have this much space in your shower. If not, there are smaller seats. This one can actually be used as a shower seat or to straddle a bathtub side such that you could slide across into a tub. (Or rather, not “into” a tub exactly, but over to the tub area. With a curtain or being careful with a handheld, that could work without needing to take risks trying to settle into a tub.

First Days After Surgery: Stay Clean Without the Shower

Use body wipes or sponge baths to stay fresh.
Keep the surgical area completely dry. This is especially important until your surgeon gives the go-ahead to get it wet. Some people buy plastic sleeves that can cover their leg and even a whole brace. They have an elastic hole at the top to seal the top of your leg. This may feel constricting, but you’ll only have it on during your shower. If you can’t get or can’t afford these or just don’t want to bother for something you’ll only need a week or two, you can find some way to fashion some plastic wrap around your important wound areas. But the thing is, you need to make sure these stay dry if your doctor told you that’s important in your case.
Change clothes regularly and focus on clean hands, face, underarms, and groin.

Showering Once Cleared by Your Doctor

What You’ll Need

Handheld showerhead
Shower seat or stool
Waterproof leg cover or plastic wrap to protect the incision if needed
Crutches
Towels and fresh clothes
Non-slip bath mat
Optional: Helper nearby, at least for your first few attempts

Step-by-Step Guide

Enter the shower with your crutches and sit directly on the shower seat.
Undress while seated. Toss clothes out of reach of the water.
Apply a waterproof sleeve over your surgical leg if the incision must stay dry.
Use the handheld shower to clean yourself, being cautious around the incision area.
Avoid wetting dry towels or clothing. Keep them on a separate dry surface or hook.
Dry off fully while seated. Towel off before attempting to stand.
Put on underwear and shirt while seated before carefully exiting with crutches.

Smaller Showers or Bathtub Setups

If your shower is small, you can leave the door or curtain open or partially open to make more room. Just be careful not to soak everything.
Adaptive benches are available that straddle bathtubs, allowing you to slide into place safely.
Glass doors on tubs can block these benches. removing them before surgery can make your tub usable.

Safety Tip

Do not rush. Take your time getting in and out of the shower.
Have someone nearby if you feel unsure.
It’s likely not a good idea to shower standing up without support, especially early in your recovery.

Staying clean after ACL surgery is a challenge, but with some preparation and patience, it’s entirely manageable. Start simple, stay safe, and build toward more independence as you heal.