jamesinUK

Hi, i had a pilonidal sinus removed about a week ago, i have had the wound looked at twice and told its healing nicely and theres no infection etc.. the wound hd been closed with stitches which are still in.

i had been told to keep it as dry as possible which is fair enough, the dressing though doesnt completely cover it 100% anyway as its mainly just over the top part of the scar then over my bum cheeks, so the bottom is a little uncovered and thats how its always been dressed and re-dressed by the nurses.

I mainly do my own dressings now anyway.

what i was wondering though is after showers etc there must be a minimal amount of water / soap touching it and thought would it be a good idea to remove the dressing at the end of the shower and without using soap just let warmish (but not hot) water just run down my back on to the wound to just try to clean it a little?

up to now they have told me to just keep it dry but even the nurse said to me if it was my wound i would let a little water run onto it but its not how we are supposed to advise patients on wound healing.

from sites i have read regarding wound healing a lot seem to tell patinets to get some water on it and clean the area.

i thought i need to ask because ive gone about 8 days now with keeping the dressing on during showers and not getting water on it as best as i can, but can i now start doing that does anyone think?

i do have gauze pads, might it be a better idea to keep doing what i have been doing and maybe just use gauze pads and dip them in water and give the wound a bit of a dab with them?

james