When I began my surgery and plastic surgery residencies, I was baffled by the commonly issued recommendation that sutured wounds MUST be kept dry to prevent infection.  Patients were counseled to cover the area when showering or to avoid washing the area completely during the period immediately after surgery.  This always seemed counterintuitive to me from a hygiene perspective. Shouldn't we encourage our patients to keep wounds clean by gently washing with soap and water?  The wounds are generally sealed after 12hours and the suture materials now use are monofilament synthetics which behave quite differently from the silk sutures used in the past.   I decided to go with my clinical judgement and always instructed my surgical patients to wash the wound sites.  For example, if you have had a facelift in my practice, you will know that your written instructions indicated that you should shampoo your hair daily after surgery.  By following this common sense approach, I have a post-op infection rate of virtually zero in my practice.  Recently, an 800 patient Australian study verified my thoughts exactly. Thus, it remains my clinical judgement which is being confirmed by larger studies, that patients can shower and wash their wounds with no additional fear of infection and may, in fact, decrease their infection rate and other wound related morbidity.  Any patient must, of course, discuss their particular diagnosis, wound, medical problem and care with their individual physician and surgeon and should not rely on this or any other blog for definitive medical advice, care or treatment.