Showering with a broken ankle · My Broken Ankle Journey

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Next to going to the bathroom, getting clean was the second most challenging thing to sort out.

We have a shower stall with a glass door, not a bathtub. There are also no rails on the wall like on what you might find in an accessible hotel room.

It’s not a very big area in there. There’s a step to get over that’s about 6 to 8 inches high. Not only would getting in and out of that be the challenge, but I’m also not supposed to get my splint wet at all.

So for several days, I just didn’t shower. Instead I used these premoistened disposable cleaning wipes that you can find at Wal-Mart. I wasn’t doing anything to get dirty, really, so this was initially acceptable.

We did go ahead and get a removable shower chair that could fit in my shower. We also got a couple of waterproof leg cast covers that could be used in the shower.

So first let me share about these waterproof cast covers. These things have a really stretchy top that can fit over my bulky cast, but then it contracts back and hugs my skin, and actually did a great job of keeping water out. I didn’t trust it at first, and put a plastic kitchen trashbag over my cast first, then slid one of these over that. I did not push my luck by forcing the shower water to hit it directly.

Clear waterproof cover with a blue stretch seal at the knee, worn over a bandaged leg

Kept my splint dry in the showerWaterproof leg cast coversThe top is really stretchy so it fits over a bulky cast, then hugs your skin so water doesn't get in. I still put a trash bag under it at first, but it did the job on its own.Find it on Amazon

Secondly is the shower chair. My wife and I had to work out a way to do this. First, I placed the chair in the shower facing the door. Then I used my crutches to get up to the door and turn around so that I was facing away from the chair. Then my wife held my hand while I lowered myself into the seat. The shower seat fortunately had arms.

Once in the seat, I used my good leg to then stand up a bit in the shower and scooched the seat back more so we could shut the shower door.

White shower chair with a backrest, padded arms and adjustable aluminum legs

How I got to shower at allShower chair with armsSmall enough to fit in our shower stall, and the arms made it possible to lower myself down and push myself back up. Mind the suction cup feet if you don't want it stuck to the floor.Find it on Amazon

This brought up another tricky situation. This shower chair had suction cup feet, and so I had to place it so those feet were over the grout marks of the shower floor, as I did not want the chair to stay stuck to the ground. I can see how some people might, though - just not me.

For using the shower, fortunately we had a removable shower head and that made a big difference too.

Getting out of the shower was kind of tricky. I had to scooch my chair up to the shower door. Then I opened the door, and extended my leg to the floor outside the shower. My wife and I would count down and then I’d basically stand up to her, where I’d then get my crutches and make the way to a bed covered in towels which is how I did my best drying off.

Showers were a lot of work, so I didn’t do them but a handful of times in those early days, but they felt so good when I finally got ‘shower clean’ rather than just ‘moist toilette’ clean. I used to have a dog that would run around like crazy after having a bath, and I felt good enough after a shower to do that, too (if only I could!).