Clean, dry, and watched. That is the whole method unless they wrote another one.

Many teams want the original dressing to stay put for a set number of hours or days. Peeking 'just to see' is how tape fails and bacteria get a ride. If the sheet says leave it, leave it.

When you are told to change it, wash your hands, open the new supplies before you uncover the site, and do not blow on it or touch it to 'check.' Follow the product they named. A different brand from the closet is not an upgrade.

• If the site must stay dry, bag it or sponge-bathe. A 'quick' shower still soaks tape.
• If showers are allowed, let water run over, then pat — do not rub the incision with a cloth.
• Skip alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, and mystery oils unless the written plan named them. They can irritate skin that is trying to close.
• Skip leftover antibiotic ointment from a prior year. If they wanted ointment, they wrote the name.
• Do not put a heating pad on a fresh incision. Heat on a closed, older site is a different question — ask.

A little pink at the edge, a small amount of clear or rusty drainage on the pad, and a dull ache can be ordinary in the first days. Spreading redness, heat, swelling that grows by the hour, thick drainage, a bad smell, or red streaks toward the heart are not ordinary. Fever with any of those is a call, not a wait-and-see.

Bruising can travel downhill from a site. New bruising that keeps expanding, or a dressing that soaks through after you were told spotting was the limit, is a reason to use the number on the packet.

Glue wants to stay dry and unpicked. Do not peel the edges. Stitches and staples stay until the visit that was booked to remove them — not until they 'feel ready.' If one comes loose, cover the site and call. Do not cut the rest 'to even it out.'