@samanthaschneidermd Hot tubs and healing wounds don’t mix! 🚫💦 If you have a surgical wound, avoid hot tubs until it's fully healed to prevent infection. While it’s healing, clean the area gently with antibacterial soap, apply Vaseline or Aquaphor and cover it with a bandage. Of course, always follow your doctor’s aftercare instructions. I’m a doctor, but not your doctor—always follow your treating medical team’s advice! Do you have wound care questions? Let’s chat in the comments! 👇 #WoundCare #SurgicalRecovery #HealingTips #DermLife #InfectionPrevention ♬ original sound - Samantha Schneider, MD

Why You Shouldn’t Use a Hot Tub with an Open Wound

Have you ever been told by your doctor to avoid hot tubs? If you have an open sore or surgical wound, here’s why that advice is so important.

I’m Dr. Schneider, a board-certified dermatologist and fellowship-trained Mohs surgeon. I treat skin cancer every day, and part of my job is guiding patients on how to care for their wounds. One of the most common questions I hear is: “Can I go in a hot tub?”

The short answer: No.

Why Hot Tubs (and Other Standing Water) Are Risky

Any type of standing water—hot tubs, lakes, pools, or even your own bathtub—can increase your risk of infection if you have an open wound.

Even though hot tubs contain chlorine and other chemicals meant to reduce bacteria, infections like hot tub folliculitis still happen. The risk is even higher if your wound is on your lower legs, since blood flow to this area is slower, making healing more difficult and infections more likely.

Safer Wound Care Tips

If you have a wound, here are some important steps you can take to lower your risk of infection:

• Skip the soak. Avoid standing water completely until your wound is fully healed.
  
• Use soap and water. When you shower, gently clean the wound with soap and water.
  
• Clean again before getting out. Even if you washed earlier, give the wound one more rinse before stepping out of the shower.
  
• Dry with care. Pat the wound dry with a clean washcloth or paper towel—never with the same towel you’ve used on the rest of your body. Regular towels can carry bacteria and put your healing skin at risk.
   

The Bottom Line

It might be tempting to relax in a hot tub, but if you have an open sore or healing wound, it’s not worth the risk. Protecting your skin now means faster healing and fewer complications later.

Do you have questions about wound care? Let me know—I’d love to help.

Follow Dr. Schneider on                TikTok          Instagram          Facebook

Want the transcript for this video instead?  

Have you been told by your doctor that you shouldn't go in a hot tub? If you have a open sore, let's talk about it. I'm Dr. Schneider. I'm a board certified dermatologist, and I'm a board certified and fellowship trained MO surgeon, so I cure people's skin cancer, and in doing so, I have to give patients advice about how to care for their wounds.

And one of the things we talk about with every single patient is not to go in any type of standing water. That would be like a hot tub. That would be, um, a lake, your own bathtub, any sort of standing water. And the reason is because it can increase the risk of getting an infection, even though hot tubs have chlorine in them.

And. They do everything they can to prevent infection, like hot tub folliculitis. It's still not a good idea to go in a hot tub. If you have an open wound, particularly one on your lower extremities, blood gets to that area, the slowest, and it returns to the heart, the slowest, and so you do have a little bit of a higher risk of infection if you do have a wound on your lower leg.

I wanna give you a little bit of advice. So besides getting into any type of standing water, like this hot tub here. You also wanna clean it with soap and water when you're in the shower, and even if you've already cleaned it right before you get out, I want you to clean it one more time with soap and water.

And then when you get out, you're gonna dab it with a clean washcloth or a clean paper towel. You're not gonna use your towel that you used everywhere else. And the reason we do this is because all of the dirty water from earlier in your shower runs straight over that wound, and your towel has been everywhere.

It can be gross too. Do you have questions about wound care? Leave them in the comments.