Should I use antibiotic ointment or petroleum jelly on my Mohs wound?

Real hospitals disagree. University of Mississippi Medical Center and a named Northwell surgical director both instruct antibiotic ointment (Polysporin or bacitracin). Dartmouth-Hitchcock's own patient handbook says the opposite, twice: "We do not recommend... antibiotic ointments to your wounds" and "Avoid antibiotic ointments. Stick with your wound care instructions," recommending plain petroleum jelly instead. This site doesn't pick a side — follow whichever your own discharge sheet says, since this is exactly the kind of instruction that varies by surgeon.

How much can I lift after Mohs surgery?

It depends which hospital you ask. Dartmouth-Hitchcock gives a specific number: no more than 10 pounds, for 1 to 2 weeks. University of Mississippi Medical Center gives general guidance instead — no heavy lifting or bending from the waist while sutures are in place, with no specific weight named. Both are real, current hospital instructions for the same category of surgery.

When can I shower after Mohs surgery?

Dartmouth-Hitchcock: you may shower once your initial bandage comes off, 24 to 48 hours after surgery, avoiding direct water pressure on the site until stitches are removed. University of Mississippi Medical Center gives a slightly different window: after 48 hours, shower with the dressing in place, then remove and re-dress. Both agree on avoiding swimming, hot tubs, and direct water pressure on the wound until it has closed.

When can I start massaging my Mohs scar?

Not before 2 months, per Dartmouth-Hitchcock's own handbook: once a firm area of scar is past that point, gently massaging it 3 times a day, 3 minutes each time, can help it soften — a technique that can keep helping up to 6 months after surgery. This is separate from the silicone scar tape this site's hub covers, which starts much earlier, once the incision has sealed.

Mohs surgery wound care: where hospitals genuinely disagree

Name: Mohs Surgery Wound Care: Disagreement — VerifiedCareData
Published: 2026-08-06

Reviewed by Erin Rose — healthcare price-transparency analyst. Last checked August 29, 2026. Part of the full Mohs surgery recovery checklist. No affiliate links on this page.

Search this question and most pages give you one confident instruction. We checked several real hospital sources for this hub and found a genuine, head-on disagreement on the single most common wound-care question — not a data gap on this site's part, and not one hospital getting it wrong. Two real institutions, two opposite instructions. The right one for you is whatever your own surgeon's discharge sheet says, not the first answer a search result hands you.

The fact

Two named, credentialed sources instruct antibiotic ointment for a healing Mohs wound; one academic medical center's own handbook explicitly instructs against it, twice, in favor of plain petroleum jelly.

This is real, documented practice variation across live hospital and named-physician sources — not a data gap on this site's part. Every section below carries the same disclaimer: this varies by surgeon, so follow your own discharge instructions over any general rule on this page.

Source: University of Mississippi Medical Center, Northwell Health (Dr. Bhuvanesh Singh), and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center patient instructions, all fetched live 2026-08-06

Antibiotic ointment or petroleum jelly: the three real positions

Hospital-by-hospital wound-care positions after Mohs surgery
Source	Stated position	Detail
University of Mississippi Medical Center	Apply antibiotic ointment (Polysporin or bacitracin), once or twice daily	Named specifically, after the initial 48-hour dressing comes off.
Northwell Health — Dr. Bhuvanesh Singh, Skin Cancer Program surgical director	A thin layer of antibiotic ointment (bacitracin), for the first two days	A second, independently sourced instruction to use antibiotic ointment — from a named, credentialed physician.
Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center	Avoid antibiotic ointment entirely; use plain petroleum jelly instead	States this twice in its own patient handbook, in nearly identical language both times.

“After 48 hours, you may shower with the dressing in place, then remove. Apply Polysporin ointment and a loose dressing… Remember to keep the surgery site protected with antibiotic ointment (i.e., Polysporin or Bacitracin). Do this once or twice daily, washing your hands before applying the ointment each time.”

— University of Mississippi Medical Center, Postoperative Care of Mohs Surgery — Excisions (source)

“For at least the first two days, avoid getting the wound wet… Singh recommends using a thin layer of antibiotic ointment (like bacitracin) to protect against infection.”

— Bhuvanesh Singh, MD, surgical director, Skin Cancer Program at Northwell Cancer Institute (source)

“Smoking will affect your scar! We do not recommend special scar creams, essential oils, or antibiotic ointments to your wounds as these will not affect the appearance of your scar and could potentially harm the area… Avoid antibiotic ointments. Stick with your wound care instructions… Use a cotton swab to apply a generous layer of petroleum jelly over the incision lines.”

— Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Mohs Micrographic Surgery Patient Handbook (source)

The honest bottom line

Two named, credentialed sources — a Mississippi academic medical center's ENT department and a named Northwell surgical director — independently recommend antibiotic ointment. A New Hampshire academic medical center's own dermatology handbook says the opposite, twice, in its own words. Neither is wrong; they're different clinical philosophies from different institutions, treating the same category of surgery. This site doesn't adjudicate which is right for you — that call belongs to your own surgeon, and the instruction on your own discharge sheet is the one to follow.

A smaller, but real, second disagreement: lifting limits

The same two-institution pattern shows up again on a lower-stakes question: how much you can lift while your Mohs incision heals.

Hospital-by-hospital lifting-restriction positions after Mohs surgery
Hospital	Stated position	Detail
Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center	No more than 10 lbs, for 1-2 weeks	The one specific, numeric lifting limit found across the sources checked for this hub.
University of Mississippi Medical Center	No heavy lifting or bending from the waist, while sutures are in place	General guidance, no specific weight given.

Dartmouth-Hitchcock's handbook states it plainly: “Do not lift anything more than 10 pounds for 1 to 2 weeks.” UMMC's own discharge sheet is looser: “No heavy lifting or bending from the waist as long as the sutures are in place” — no specific weight named. Both are real, current instructions; ask your own surgeon which number, if any, applies to your case.

A few more places hospitals genuinely differ

Initial dressing timing. UCLA's own instructions: the pressure bandage placed at the end of surgery “will remain on until the next day.” UMMC's own instructions: “Leave the initial dressing on for 48 hours or as instructed.” A day-long gap between two real hospital instructions for the same first step.
Showering. Dartmouth-Hitchcock: shower once the initial bandage comes off, 24-48 hours after surgery, avoiding direct water pressure on the site until stitches are removed. UMMC: after 48 hours, shower with the dressing in place, then remove and re-dress. Both agree on the broader rule — no swimming, hot tubs, or direct water pressure until the wound has closed — but land on slightly different specific windows.
Scar massage. Dartmouth-Hitchcock names a specific technique, not a product: once a firm scar area is past 2 months old, gently massaging it 3 times a day, 3 minutes each time, can help it soften — helpful up to 6 months out, and explicitly not to be started earlier. No other source checked for this hub names this technique, so it's presented here as one hospital's own guidance, not a universal instruction.

This page reports what several real hospital and named-physician sources publish for their own patients — it is not medical advice for your specific wound. Wound-care instructions genuinely vary by surgeon, surgery location, and closure technique. Follow your own discharge instructions over anything on this page, and call your surgeon's office with any bleeding, drainage, redness, wound opening, or swelling — the same “call us if” line every hospital source in this research gives its own patients.

Go deeper

The full recovery checklist

The 3 things worth buying, and what the day of surgery actually looks like.

Does Medicare cover Mohs surgery?

Yes, for the removal itself — the honest gap is what comes after.

Sources

University of Mississippi Medical Center, Postoperative Care of Mohs Surgery - Excisions — the antibiotic-ointment, dressing-timing, showering, and lifting-restriction citations; fetched live 2026-08-06
Northwell Health / The Well, "Mohs Surgery Recovery: Your 48-Hour Game Plan" (Bhuvanesh Singh, MD) — the second antibiotic-ointment citation, from a named surgical director; fetched live 2026-08-06
Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Mohs Micrographic Surgery Patient Handbook (PDF) — the petroleum-jelly, lifting-limit, showering, and scar-massage citations; fetched + PDF-extracted live 2026-08-06
UCLA Health / UCLA Dermatology, Post-Operative Wound Care Instructions (PDF) — the initial-dressing-timing citation; fetched + PDF-extracted live 2026-08-06
VerifiedCareData dataset.json (CC-BY-4.0) — every citation above traces to a live-fetched primary source, listed here