You’re probably tired of hearing me extol the virtues of grab bars for bath safety. You’d be hard pressed though to find a less expensive way to make your bathroom safer.
The Swivel Bathtub Shower Assist is a very unique grab bar. As the name implies, it has a “swivel” capable of producing a wide range of positioning options. Whether used straight at its full twenty six inch length, or twisted to an L or V shape, you can lock the Swivel Bathtub Shower Assist into a configuration that works best for your needs.
Perhaps the best feature of the Swivel Bathtub Shower Assist is its tool-free installation. No drilling means no worries if you rent your home. No holes also mean that if the placement of the bar isn’t right the first time, you can keep trying for the perfect spot and configuration without the worry of holes to patch.
You know that a company stands behind its product when they offer a limited lifetime warranty. The Padded Transfer Bench Assembled is such a product.
Equipped with a comfortable, cushioned seat and backrest, and a one inch aluminum frame, this transfer bench is built to last. A healthy 300 pound weight capacity defies its lightweight construction.
The Padded Transfer Bench Assembled offers height adjustments from eighteen to twenty four inches in one inch increments for use by people of a wide range of heights. The bench back and arm remove without tools and the back depth adjusts to three different positions, making this bench very user friendly.
Extra large suction cups grace the feet of the Padded Transfer Bench Assembled and create a very sturdy bench to slide across from a wheelchair. This feature filled transfer bench does not disappoint when it comes to a safer shower transfer.
Bathing is an important Activity of Daily Living. As we age, it becomes harder to use bathing facilities as balance and coordination can decrease due to declining health or medication side effects. There are many great innovations in bath safety to make bathing easier and safer.
A shower bench offers a sturdy, wide seat and four legs with rubber tipped feet. By enabling the user to sit during the shower, the shower bench increases the time one can spend in the shower without tiring.
A handheld shower sprayer is a must when you are using a shower bench. You can direct the spray where you need it and turnoff the water to shampoo your hair or shave your legs.
Grab bars and a bath mat are the final pieces of the bath safety puzzle. Suction cup grab bars offer tool-free installation and can be mounted to just about any flat surface in the bathroom. A bath mat offers slip free entrance and exit from the bath or shower.
The shower bench, hand held shower sprayer, grab bars, and bath mats all work together to create a safe bathroom environment.
No bath safety item is more important than a high quality grab bar. Not to be confused with a standard bathroom towel rack, a grab bar was designed to help folks in and out of the shower or bath safely.
Grab bars are available in many styles and configurations so it is easy to get the right one to meet your needs. Do you rent your home or have no home improvement skills? Suction cup grab bars are incredibly strong and require no drilling. You don’t have to worry about having to spackle holes to get your security deposit back, and if you don’t like where you placed your grab bar the first time, you can re-install it until you get it right.
Grab bars are an inexpensive way to create a safer bathroom environment.
We have discussed Activities of Daily Living in prior posts. One of these activities is transferring. Transferring refers to the ability to move from one area to another, such as from bed to wheelchair or wheelchair to toilet. A transfer bench can aid in some types of transfer.
A padded transfer bench is a great option to get from wheelchair straight to shower. Sturdy, but lightweight, these transfer benches are built to be mold and mildew resistant. The padding is a great feature to look for in a transfer bench as skin and muscles become much more sensitive as we age.
There are also transfer benches that come equipped with a built-in toilet seat. These are great for making these benches multipurpose. Not only does this toilet make the act of going to the bathroom easier, but the toilet opening allows a caregiver access for hygiene without one needing to rise from the bench.
A transfer bench is a great way to meet all of your bath safety needs.
When purchasing a shower chair or transfer bench, most folks are looking for assistance with their Activities of Daily Living. Activities of Daily Living include bathing, continence, dressing, eating, transferring, and toileting. The number of daily activities that require assistance determine the severity of a health condition, and in turn helps families and physicians determine what type of long term care is needed.
If your goal is to keep yourself or your loved one at home for as long as possible, there are great options to assist with bathing, transferring, and toileting. There are a wide variety of shower chairs, shower benches, and shower stools available to assist with bathing. There are transfer benches with a built in toilet to respond to the need for help with both transferring and toileting in one convenient bench.
The Activities of Daily Living are important to the qualification of benefits from Long Term Care insurance. As of 60% of Americans 65 or older will require some sort of long term care in the future, it is important to know how care placement is determined and how to keep independent as long as you can.
We all know that we should conserve water any chance we get. We wait to run the dishwasher until it’s full; we catch rain water to water our gardens; we turn off the water while we brush our teeth or lather our hands. Once place we don’t enjoy water conservation is in our shower. A long, hot shower can be a major stress reliever. A hand held shower sprayer can make water conservation much more enjoyable.
Use of a handheld shower sprayer gives you control over the water flow. You can turn the water off when you are shampooing your hair or shaving your legs, and then turn it back on to rinse. Less water is used, which is great from a conservation standpoint. The decrease in water used results in smaller water and sewage bills. Everyone enjoys saving money and if you can save the environment in the process, even better.
Handheld shower sprayers often have massage settings, which can make a shorter shower using less water even more relaxing than a traditional shower. You can have all the relaxation of the shower and not throw money down the drain.
You have been enjoying the comfort and safety of a shower bench at home. Now however, you are faced with taking a trip to a relative’s house or taking a vacation without the benefit of your shower bench. What can you do?
The good news is that there are many shower benches that can travel easily. They are lightweight, compact, and sturdy. The Carex Portable Shower Bench weighs less than six pounds and offers convenient one piece construction. Fitting bathtubs from 19 to 28 inches wide, the Carex Portable Shower Bench has rubber stops to help protect the tub from scratches. This bench has a sturdy 300 pound weight capacity and will fit easily in a large suitcase for discreet travel.
Suction cup grab bars and tub rails are also completely portable and can offer a helpful grip when you are away from home. When you arrive, simply place them where they are needed and when you are ready to depart, remove them and take them with you.
There is no reason to give up the safety and comfort of home when you travel. Pack a shower bench, a suction cup grab bar, and a tub rail and enjoy your trip!
If you follow my blog, you know that the Otter is a pediatric reclining shower chair. The Otter comes in three sizes that can accommodate children and small adults. The availability of three sizes makes it easier to find a good fit.
There are several accessories available for the Otter which make it work even harder for you. The standard stand provides a sturdy base with just a small space between tub floor and chair bottom. This set up is ideal for folks who will want to soak in the water.
Also available is the tub stand which increases the height of the Otter between 5 and 10 inches depending on user preference. This is nice for caregivers who are giving bathing assistance—less bending and stretching over the side of the tub.
One of the best features of the Otter is that the accessories work on all three chair sizes. As you child grows, there is no need to replace the stand, only the chair, which makes the Otter more cost effective than some pediatric shower chairs.
For anyone with limited mobility or for those with a bad back, I don’t have to explain to you the panic and discomfort you feel when you are unable to rise from your toilet. You may feel embarrassed to have your spouse or child help you up from the toilet. You may live alone and have no one to help you. The Curve Grab Bar was designed to assist you in getting up from the toilet.
The Curve Grab Bar has a ladder-like design to help you “climb” from the toilet. Quality zinc-plated steel construction provides strength and stability, and resists rust in the humid bathroom environment. This grab bar boasts a 300 pound weight capacity. The Curve Grab Bar adjusts and locks at 45 degree angle increments to allow you the perfect fit for your particular bathroom configuration.
The Curve Grab Bar offers a helping hand while helping you maintain your privacy and peace of mind.