4 Promising Benefits of Shower Chairs for Elderly

Most of us think of our home as our sanctuary – a place to relax and simply be yourself. It’s where we feel safe, recognized, relaxed, and supported. Unfortunately, the home can also be a significant source of danger, especially for seniors who may struggle with the same daily tasks they once took for granted, such as visiting the restroom. Because of this increased danger, there are ways to reduce fall risks. This includes walking aids, lift chairs, bath safety supplies, and shower chairs for elderly.

For seniors who do remain at home, they face the most potential danger when they’re doing something many of us take for granted: visiting the bathroom. Wet floors, slippery surfaces, difficult-to-climb tubs, and low toilets all present a fall risk for the elderly.

Worse yet, when the bathroom does cause a fall, confined space increases the chance that the senior falling will strike their body off of the surfaces around them. This increases the risk of concussions, broken bones, and even fatalities.

The CDC estimates that around 232,000 Americans suffer from injuries in the bathroom every single year. We also know that number rises sharply after the age of 85, when nearly all seniors begin to experience at least some mobility struggles.

We know that keeping seniors safe at home often requires a change in how we approach everyday tasks. Often, the right support and safety devices can eliminate most (if not all) of the added risks seniors face. This is especially true for the bathtub, which presents the biggest bathroom risk of all. Due to this high risk, many opt for shower chairs for elderly as part of their bathroom safety plan.

The Bathtub: a Central Risk Factor

The bathtub represents one of the biggest risks for seniors simply because of the way it is designed. High sides, slippery ceramic surfaces, streaming water, faucets that jut out from the wall – all of these present a unique challenge to the elderly.

Picture a senior who struggles with arthritis of the hip or bursitis of the knee. First, they must climb over the side, potentially balancing on one leg. Then, they need to remain upright without slipping. When you add water into the mix, it becomes extremely difficult to remain upright and steady without significant strength and balance.

Falls in the shower or tub don’t always have to be an eventuality. For seniors with mild to moderate struggles, shower chairs are often enough to make entering the bathtub and staying under the water safe, comfortable, and even relaxing! Best of all, they benefit seniors in many other ways.

Other Benefits of Shower Chairs for Elderly

The main benefit of shower chairs is the fact that they improve safety. You can rest more assured, and worry less, that an accident will occur in the bathtub. Shower chairs for elderly make the bathing process much easier, and safer. However, there are other benefits to the elderly of incorporating shower chairs:

• Their hygiene improves
• They have more independence
• The shower can be incorporated into treatment plans easier
• Chairs are portable and easily usable in everyday life

Each of these benefits helps the senior, as well as family members who are concerned about bathroom safety.

Improved Hygiene

Some seniors may begin to refuse showers or baths altogether out of fear that they may fall, particularly if they’ve fallen once already in the past. If it goes on long enough, the elderly loved one’s hygiene may suffer, leading to infections and skin issues that ironically demand more time in the bathtub or shower. If left untreated, poor hygiene can even lead to serious illnesses like staphylococcus aureus infections and urinary tract infections.

Seniors who avoid the bath or shower out of fear may attempt to hide their hygiene issues from loved ones with perfume or by withdrawing from the family. Sometimes, loved ones mistake this for depression, but it can be simply a result of the senior recognizing their hygiene struggles but feeling that they can’t ask for help.

Installing a shower chair may encourage seniors to take a more active role in their own personal hygiene. They feel safer and more capable, and thus, will shower more often and reliably. Being clean and fresh improves mood, boosts confidence, and just plain feels good, too!

More Independence

If your senior loved one is fiercely independent, they may refuse help in the bath or shower out of embarrassment. No one likes to feel like they can’t handle even the most basic daily hygiene tasks alone, and having to feel exposed even to a family member certainly isn’t preferred.

One of the biggest benefits of shower chairs for elderly family members is the fact that they help seniors take care of their own needs without necessitating as much outside intervention from the family. Confidence increases and they are encouraged to remain independent while maintaining that precious “alone time” many of us enjoy during a good, hot bath.

Aging with confidence and maintaining as much independence as possible is really important. Studies show that the longer seniors stay independent, the happier they feel and the less likely they are to experience depression. Using a shower chair can certainly be an important part of that independence maintenance.

Better Access to Therapeutic Showers

One of the first recommendations many gerontologists suggest when seniors are experiencing chronic pain, swelling, or arthritis is a warm bath or shower. Warm to hot water is very soothing, and it encourages lymph drainage, swelling reduction, and better circulation, too. Unfortunately, fear of getting into the bathtub can leave seniors virtually unable to enjoy that at-home therapy benefit without significant stress.

Shower chairs encourage seniors to use the shower as an important part of an overall treatment program. On particularly bad days, when pain levels are high or circulation isn’t good, they can step into the tub and remain seated under the water without necessarily needing help. This allows the senior to make on-the-spot decisions about their health and condition that may even reduce the need for medications.

Want to make your shower especially therapeutic for your senior? Pair the shower chair with a massaging showerhead. Many of these can be adjusted to provide just the right flow and pattern to loosen tight muscles and soothe away knots.

Portable Bathroom Safety

Shower chairs for elderly come in many forms; some are small, some are large, some have a swivel board for getting into the tub more easily. Still others are portable enough to fold down and take with you on all of your most important adventures. These portable shower chairs are of immense benefit to the senior who travels often, be it to the Caribbean or just to visit the grandkids at Christmas time.

Most portable shower chairs fold down flat. Their small size makes them idea for stashing in a trunk, on an airplane, or even within a suitcase. Taking the chair along ensures that the senior isn’t exposed to risks just because they aren’t at home. This may also remove some of the fear associated with traveling or experiencing an injury while away.

Keeping beloved elderly family members safe, happy, healthy, and independent at home for as long as possible is vital. Shower chairs are one of the best ways to eliminate one of the biggest risks seniors face in the home every single day, but they’re just the beginning. Ask your pharmacist about other safety products to create a warm, welcoming home that supports self-sufficiency every single day.