The Art of the Sponge Bath

My daily cleaning ritual, oddly enough, is my favorite part of the day. There is something about being clean that I find fundamentally necessary to my sanity. After I initially tore my ACL, being able to take a shower was crucial to feeling human again. It's the same thing post-surgery, but I've had to change my approach because I have to keep the incision sites dry.

After the initial tear, I hopped/flung myself into the shower and showered standing on one leg. It was incredibly precarious, and I'm lucky: a) the shower rod didn't collapse when I used it for leverage; and b) I didn't slip. It could have been disastrous. This time, there's no question of actually getting into the shower since I can't get my left leg wet at all. So I do a modified sponge bath, which is surprisingly effective!

It requires more equipment than a normal shower: I use two big towels, one small one, and a wash cloth. It's also extremely helpful to have a removable flexible shower head. It makes it soooooo much easier to wash your hair! [Stupidly, this didn't even occur to me until my mom asked if I'd been using theirs. The first time I washed my hair after surgery, I did it very awkwardly in the sink.] The whole thing is done sitting down next to the bathtub. It works surprising well! It's also interesting to see how little water you actually need to get clean.

It's a weirdly relaxing process--I recommend sponge baths for everyone!