Surgical Wound Care at Home: Preventing Infection

Foot and ankle surgery is only half the process. What happens at home in the days and weeks after determines whether that incision heals cleanly or turns into a setback. Here's what matters most.

The basics that prevent most problems

• Keep it clean and dry until your surgeon says otherwise. Moisture is one of the biggest risk factors for infection in a healing incision.
• Wash your hands thoroughly before touching the dressing or the wound itself, every time.
• Follow your specific dressing-change schedule. This varies by procedure — some incisions are left undisturbed for several days, others need daily changes. Your surgeon's instructions for your specific surgery override any general advice, including this article.
• Keep the foot elevated as instructed, especially in the first days. Elevation reduces swelling, and less swelling means less strain on the healing incision.
• Stick to weight-bearing restrictions exactly. Putting more weight on a healing foot than allowed doesn't just risk the surgical repair — it can also stress and reopen the incision itself.

Water is the most common mistake

Showering is usually allowed sooner than most people expect, but almost always with the wound kept dry under a waterproof cover, not exposed directly to water. Soaking — baths, pools, hot tubs, the ocean — is typically off-limits for weeks, well beyond when showering gets the green light. This is one of the most common ways a healing wound gets contaminated, because it feels harmless and the timeline for "no soaking" often outlasts everything else in a recovery plan.

The infection signs that actually matter

Some redness, mild swelling, and tenderness right after surgery is completely normal. What matters is the trend, not any single symptom on day one:

• Redness that's spreading beyond the incision, rather than fading
• Warmth around the wound that's increasing
• Swelling that's getting worse instead of gradually improving
• Pus or cloudy discharge, or a foul odor
• Fever
• Pain that's climbing instead of easing as the days pass

A wound improving day by day, even slowly, is on track. A wound getting worse at any point after the first day or two is not something to wait out.

When to call

Call promptly for spreading redness, fever, pus or foul-smelling drainage, worsening pain, or a wound edge that opens up. When genuinely in doubt, call anyway — catching a problem early is a phone call and a quick check; catching it late can mean a significantly longer recovery, and occasionally a second procedure.