Do you wash when you are ill?

[booksandnooks]

Yabu - I wash daily even if I'm on death's door
yanbu - I wash when I'm better

When I had flu I didn't because I was so ill I couldn't move. Maybe some of these people who are saying they always do it haven't been proper poorly!

thanks @SugarCrash1
I needed that ❤❤❤

OP Baths and showers made my mastitis much worse - the heat caused even more inflammation. The midwives said it would help, but for me it did the opposite. So I’d suggest a quick shower below the waist (sitting down in the bath if necessary) and a cool flannel wash above the waist. Also a call to OOH GP, if you’re that I’ll with mastitis you may need antibiotics or even an abscess draining. At the very least, you need stronger pain relief and cabbage leaves kept in the fridge.

@Schrutesbeets

Do people all really shower every day? I do every other day on the whole, but I'm on maternity leave not really a sweaty person. Am I a total scruff?

You're not meant to shower everyday as its bad for your skin and hair but I wash everyday like at the sink

If you have mastitis a very warm bath can help massage blockages out of the ducts and you can express some milk straight off to relieve the tension. You may also need antibiotics. Are you still under the midwives? Otherwise call 111 and get to a walk in clinic.

mastitis is miserable.

It depends how sick I am. I have been too weak to shower in the past

If you’re that unwell I think you need to ring 111 for advice. Sounds like you need antibiotics if you don’t have them already.

When I'm very ill I don't risk a bath or shower as I am prone to fainting, I've knocked myself out in the shower and it's no picnic! I try to wash buts and pits every day though. If I've been ill I love getting in my first proper shower.

To clear mastitis, have a hot shower and feed straight after. If you have a wide-toothed comb, you can gently stroke it over the blockage towards the nipple to try to break it up and bit. Then use gravity on it- lie the baby on the floor on their back, then get over them on all fours and feed. You might well need antibiotics too.

I've low blood pressure and being sick lowers it and I can end up fainting trying to get out of bed to go to the loo. A shower would definitely make me faint , so I often just have to do with a sink wash until my blood pressure comes back up and it's safe.

Yes always ,quick shower and clean PJs on and straight back in bed.

I feel even worse if I don’t wash and even when I was horrendously ill with flu I got DH to help me get in the bath. I would have to be unconscious not to wash.

[quote booksandnooks]@SnowWhitesRestingBitchFace I have mastitis, blocked ducts in both breasts and am absolutely dying. paracetamol isn't hitting it at all.[/quote]
Give your drs a call because you might need antibiotics. The pain is horrendous and I feel awful for you 😞

@Schrutesbeets

Do people all really shower every day? I do every other day on the whole, but I'm on maternity leave not really a sweaty person. Am I a total scruff?

Yes Everyone needs to shower daily

Depends what kind of 'ill' I am. I will sometimes just stay on the sofa all day, but if I'm cold and feeling grim a hot shower (we don't have a bath and I'd bloody kill for one tbh) makes me feel much better.

Oh OP, mastitis is absolutely miserable!! I found wrapping a very hot wheatbag around my boob then massaging and hand expressing into a haaka helped. I also got DP to hand express because his hands were bigger and he could apply more pressure! Get some antibiotics if you can x

No, I don't wash if I'm "in bed" ill. If I'm that unwell I find I can't manage standing up in a steamy shower, a bath is more trouble than it's worth, and I feel dreadful having to strip down at a for a flannel wash. I just rot in my own filth for a few days until I'm "sofa ill" and then wash every few days (when the wash does make me feel better but it's a huge expenditure of energy to get round to it) until I'm "up and about ill".

I've been "in bed ill" with pregnancy sickness for several weeks solid recently and washed about once a week.

Oh god you poor thing

Hot bath with your phone to text DH when it gets cooler so he can bring baby in to feed then help you both out.
(In Hot bath on hands & knees while you massage really helps - heat & gravity!)

Your DP needs to be a better nurse! Tell him you need help getting into the bath, get him to wash your back so you're not stretching round and to have a warm bathrobe on the radiator for you afterwards. He can change the sweaty bedding for fresh while you're in the bath, then come help you get out, fetch you pyjamas for when you're dry and make you a cuppa. It would also feel more manageable then. Also can you have co-codamol and ibuprofen for the pain with this condition? He can fetch that from the pharmacy too.

The only time I dont have a daily shower is when I am really ill.

I missed a day a couple of years ago after I had an op and I had a really bad sickness bug about ten years ago.

After my lumbar puncture I could barely lift my head more than an inch of the pillow without violently spewing everywhere. I couldn't have stood in the shower if I'd wanted to nor did I have the energy to lay in bed and use wipes. I did manage to have a shower once I got back home but it took me an hour and a half just to wash my hair because I had to keep kneeling down in the bath due to the pressure in my head and dizziness. Did feel tons better after but it totally knocked me for six. Post Miscarriage I barely got out of bed for 2 weeks unless I was going to the toilet. All I did then was freshen up as much as I could. Would've loved a bath to ease the cramps but didn't want to risk infection and my old shower was barely warm so I didn't want to stand in in winter and be freezing cold. Other than that stuff like colds I'll go in so the steam eases my blocked nose

Yabu

Even if ill enough to be in bed I still get a shower.
I'll often then out clean PJs in and get back into bed.
Sometimes I might not necessarily wash my hair every day if feeling ill, but would the next day.
Even when I've been ill in hospital I got a shower daily.

@Schrutesbeets

Do people all really shower every day? I do every other day on the whole, but I'm on maternity leave not really a sweaty person. Am I a total scruff?

Dh and I always shower daily, each morning. As does 19y Dd. She has showered daily since being small. We wash our hair daily too usually.

there is such a thing as a bed bath op
take care

@HopingForOurRainbowBaby

After my lumbar puncture I could barely lift my head more than an inch of the pillow without violently spewing everywhere. I couldn't have stood in the shower if I'd wanted to nor did I have the energy to lay in bed and use wipes. I did manage to have a shower once I got back home but it took me an hour and a half just to wash my hair because I had to keep kneeling down in the bath due to the pressure in my head and dizziness. Did feel tons better after but it totally knocked me for six. Post Miscarriage I barely got out of bed for 2 weeks unless I was going to the toilet. All I did then was freshen up as much as I could. Would've loved a bath to ease the cramps but didn't want to risk infection and my old shower was barely warm so I didn't want to stand in in winter and be freezing cold. Other than that stuff like colds I'll go in so the steam eases my blocked nose

You're the only other person I've encountered who also has experienced a post dural puncture! I was unwell for 16 days, it was horrendous! So just wanted to send a little wave 👋