What should you do to protect the surgical wound after a minor surgical procedure?

Rest Up and Recover Well

Understanding how to properly care for your incision—and yourself—after surgery can help prevent infection so you can recover faster. And since, almost one-third of surgery patients develop an infection during recovery,1 it’s important to know the signs.

Recuperating After Surgery: Your Need-to-Know Info

When to Call a Doctor

Even with the most conscientious care, you can run into trouble with post-surgery wounds. You may find yourself wondering if your symptoms are normal or a sign of emergency. If you’re ever seriously concerned, err on the side of caution and call your doctor.

Call our Nurse Hotline to speak with a medical professional.

1-800-526-3967

Seek professional if you have:

A surgical incision that is swollen, hot, or notably red

A wound that has green or yellow drainage

A wound that smells bad

Bleeding that does not stop with pressure

Pain that is not getting better

A feeling of hardness or fullness around the incision

A surgical incision that has opened

A fever or 38.3°C or 101°F

Find the Best Bandage for the Job

Not sure which BAND-AID® Brand adhesive bandage to pick? Our Product Recommender can help you find the one that’ll do the trick.

Expert reviewer, Mr Christian Macutkiewicz, Consultant General and Hepato-Pancreatico-Biliary Surgeon
Next review due May 2025

Caring for a surgical wound is important to lower your risk of infection and ensure your wound heals in the best way possible. We’re giving some general information about caring for a surgical wound here. But it’s important to follow the individual advice you’re given after your operation or procedure.

Wound healing

A surgical wound is a cut made to your skin and tissues during an operation. Usually, after your surgeon finishes your operation, they’ll secure the edges of the cut. They may do this with:

• stitches (sutures)
• staples (metal clips)
• adhesive strips
• skin glue

The method your surgeon uses will depend on where your wound is, how big it is and how strong the closure needs to be.

This is called primary wound healing and is what we’re focusing on in this topic. Sometimes, it’s best for your surgeon to leave the wound open to heal up by itself (secondary healing). If you have this type of wound, your surgeon will tell you how to look after it.

How a wound heals

The way a wound heals can be divided into several phases, which may overlap.

• Immediately after the cut, cells called platelets in your blood form clumps and release chemicals to stop the bleeding.
• In the first few days, blood flow to your wound increases and white blood cells arrive to fight infection and remove dead tissue. New cells arrive to start repairing the wound.
• From three days to three weeks, new blood vessels grow to bring nutrients to your wound and new tissue starts to develop.
• Finally, from three weeks up to about a year, the new tissues laid down in the wound are gradually replaced and re-organised. Your scar gradually gets stronger, paler and more like normal skin.

In healthy people, most wounds heal well enough within a couple of weeks to no longer need the support of stitches, staples, adhesive strips or glue. This can vary depending on the type of operation you had.

Surgical wound dressings

It’s not always necessary to have a dressing on a surgical wound but if you do need one, it’s purpose is to:

• absorb any fluid weeping from your wound
• provide the best conditions for healing
• protect the area as your wound heals

Changing the dressing

Your surgeon or nurse will tell you how to care for a surgical wound at home. This will include when you should change or remove the dressing. In general, it’s good not to change a dressing too often. But a dressing that becomes wet or soaked in blood should be changed.

• Before you remove the dressing, wash your hands with soap and water and then dry them.
• Carefully take off the dressing, trying not to touch the healing wound with your fingers.
• Put the used dressing in the bin – you may want to put it in a waste bag first.
• You might then be able to leave your wound without a dressing. But you might like to keep one over the area for protection and comfort, particularly if your clothes are rubbing against it. Your hospital may give you a replacement dressing to use at home.
• Put the dressing on carefully and don’t touch the inside of it.
• Don’t use antiseptic cream under the dressing. These creams may damage your tissue rather than help it heal.

Stitches and staples

Stitches may be dissolvable, or may need to be removed by a nurse or doctor. Staples will need to be removed.

A nurse or doctor will usually remove non-dissolvable stitches and staples after three to 14 days. When stitches need to come out depends on where they are and the type of operation you had. You’ll be given a follow-up appointment for this, or asked to visit your GP practice at the right time.

Dissolvable stitches usually disappear in about four to eight weeks, depending on the type you have.

If you have stitches, you may see small pieces of the stitch material poking out of your wound. Don’t be tempted to pull on these. If they don’t eventually fall off or dissolve, get advice from your GP or practice nurse.

As your skin heals, it’s natural for your stitches and wound to itch – it’s part of the healing process. Try not to scratch the area and don’t put any moisturiser or other ointments on your skin to ease the irritation. If the stitches cause you pain or discomfort, contact your GP or hospital for advice.

Adhesive strips

Your surgeon may close your wound with strips that stick to your skin. You need to keep these dry if you have a shower, so put a waterproof dressing over the strips because they could come off in water. They’ll usually come off by themselves after a week to 10 days.

Skin glue

Your surgeon may use skin glue to close your wound, especially if you have a small wound.

Although skin glue is waterproof, it’s best to keep it dry. Don’t use creams or lotions over the glue, and don’t pick at it or rub it. The glue usually peels off by itself in about two weeks so you don’t need to return to the hospital to have it removed. If any glue is still there after a couple of weeks, you can remove it with soap and water or petroleum jelly.

Surgical drains

Your surgeon may put a temporary surgical drain in place during your operation. This is a thin tube that drains blood and fluids from the site of your operation so that they don’t collect there. The fluids may drain into a dressing, bag or container that can be emptied.

The drain may be removed while you are still in hospital. Or you may be able to go home with it still in place. If so, your nurse will tell you exactly how to look after it. You may be given a hospital number you can call if you have concerns about your drain or if you get problems once you’re home.

When you’re at home, contact the hospital if:

• you have signs of infection (see our section on wound infections below)
• the drained fluid suddenly changes colour or smells

Your surgeon or nurse will let you know the plan for removing the drain when you no longer need it.

Bathing and showering

It’s usually possible to have a shower about 48 hours after surgery but this will depend on what operation you had. Here are some general points to remember.

• If possible, have showers rather than baths so that your wound doesn’t soak in water. This could soften the scar tissue and cause your wound to reopen. Only have a bath if you can keep your wound out of the water.
• Remove any dressing before you have a bath or shower, unless your surgeon or nurse gives you different advice. Some dressings are waterproof and can be left on.
• You can gently wash the area surrounding your wound with mild soap. Don’t use soap or any products such as shower gel, body lotion or talc directly over your wound.
• You can let the shower water gently splash onto your healing wound. But don’t rub the area, as this might be painful and could delay the healing process.
• Dry the surrounding area carefully by patting it gently with a clean towel – but allow your wound to air dry.

Ask your doctor or nurse if you can have a shower or bath, and how long you should keep your wound dry. Always follow their advice – they’ll know what’s best in your circumstances.

Keeping yourself healthy

Your surgical wound stands the best chance of healing well if your body is as healthy as possible. There’s a lot you can do to help yourself prepare for surgery, and recover healthily afterwards.

Things to think about to help your surgical wound heal include the following.

• Smoking. If you smoke, this can mean it takes longer for your surgical wound to heal. Ask your GP practice nurse for advice and support to help you give up smoking.
• Your diet. Eating a healthy balanced diet should give you all the nutrients your wound needs to heal.
• Diabetes. If you have diabetes, it’s important that your blood sugar is well controlled. This is because having high blood sugars can slow down the healing process.

Wound infections

Most surgical wounds will heal without causing any problems. But it’s possible that your wound may become infected after surgery. You can ask your surgeon how likely this is after your operation, and what to look out for.

A surgical wound infection can develop two to three days after an operation, but it can also happen up to two or three weeks later. It can even happen several months after an operation, but this is rare.

Your doctors and nurses will do everything they can to prevent your wound from becoming infected. But it’s important that you know what to look out for after you go home.

Signs that you may have a wound infection include:

• the wound becoming more painful
• redness in and around the wound
• leaking of blood or pus from the wound
• swelling of the wound – an abscess (a collection of pus) may have formed
• an unpleasant smell coming from the wound
• having a raised temperature

If there’s a bit of oozing from your wound within the first few hours, that’s nothing to worry about. But if you have any of these symptoms or are worried about how your wound looks, contact your GP surgery unless you have been told to contact the hospital.

If you get an infection, you’ll usually be treated with a course of antibiotics. Very occasionally, you may need to have further surgery.

Did our information help you?

We’d love to hear what you think. Our short survey takes just a few minutes to complete and helps us to keep improving our health information.

About our health information

At Bupa we produce a wealth of free health information for you and your family. This is because we believe that trustworthy information is essential in helping you make better decisions about your health and wellbeing.

Our information has been awarded the PIF TICK for trustworthy health information. It also follows the principles of the The Information Standard.

Learn more about our editorial team and principles >

Should you cover a wound after surgery?

What is the best way to treat surgical wound?

When can I remove dressing after minor surgery?