My Mother in Law Had a Fall
Mary had an issue when the steam from her shower activated a smoke alarm. She was in such a hurry to open the bathroom door and address the blasting noise of the smoke alarm that she forgot to use her walker.
She fell forward, flat onto her face. She got horribly bruised. She had taken off her Life Alert pendant before showering. She laid on the floor for quite a long time before help arrived. It was the type of event that meant she had to go back to living with her daughter.
Bathrooms are slippery and wet
Statistically, most home falls occur in the bathroom. Getting in or out of the tub is when bathroom falls often occur. The humiliation is intense if you get lifted by young EMTs off the bathroom floor while wet and naked, having just finished bathing. Use extra caution when getting out of the tub or shower. Don’t rush because you’re cold. How? Wrap up in a soft and absorbent robe so you can comfortably sit and relax while drying off. In my bathroom, I have a space heater which is essential for taking the chill out of the air so I can relax and enjoy being clean.
Grab bars
Get grab bars installed in the tub area~ not the suction cup ones. Only use ones that are secured into the wall. Your handyman will know to chip a bit of the glazed surface of tile prior to drilling a hole into it, using a ceramic bit.
A grab bar can be installed in a fiberglass tub unit, too, as long as expansion bolts are used to keep it from ever being pulled out. Choose a mounting height that feels easy to reach for the need of the user. Grab bars are one of the most easily understood and accepted forms of bathroom safety equipment.
Tub rail
In a standard bathtub, you can use a clamp-on tub rail (drivemedical.com) for no-tool installation onto the outer tub wall. This type of rail is useful when stepping in or out of the tub edge. See the example below.
It’s also useful as a transfer rail. Rather than stepping over the tub edge, sit down on the outside edge of the tub seat, facing out, using the clamp on tub rail for support. Then swing your legs over the edge, and in. This is useful for someone with weight bearing restrictions or weakness in one leg.
To exit the tub move to sit on the outside edge of the tub seat facing out. Get warm, dry and dressed right there. Then use the tub rail to stand up while facing out. I call this the “sit and spin” method.It means you never stand up in the wet area.
A clamp on tub rail works well when combined with a larger transfer tub seat with two of the legs on the outside of the tub, and two legs on the inside. When using a transfer tub bench be sure and slit the shower curtain to properly contain the water inside the tub.
Convert the tub
There’s a conversion kit with a template to cut away a piece of the outer tub wall such as the quick tub (quicktub.com) walk-through insert. That’s useful for someone with heavy, short, numb or weak legs and difficulty getting them inside the tub.
There are also tub-to-shower conversion kits equipped with built in grab bars. They are designed to use the same footprint as the original bathtub.
Seated showering
A handheld shower attachment, like the Moen Magnetic is a nice touch for bathroom safety. Look for one that attaches and detaches with a magnet for easy or one-handed use. Seated showering with a hand shower is much safer than standing and reaching while in the wet area.
The spa experience and bathing
For soap and shampoo products I favor large pump-style containers for liquids that can be used one-handed. There are wall-mounted dispensers available like ones from simplehuman.com Place those where it’s convenient for the shower helper’s use.
Find a body sponge on a long handle that can be hung up to drip dry after use. The long handle enables reaching the back and feet without twisting or bending. You don’t want a dropped bar of soap to leave a slippery trail on the bottom of the tub.
Once the shower is done, have a terry cloth robe in place ASAP to get dry and warm while still seated. Oprah recommends a 100% cotton spa bathrobe available at landsend.com. Using a robe avoids the need to rush while in the bathroom. Likely the area is not only cold but also wet and slippery after showering.
Relax
In my northern climate bathroom, I have a space heater which is essential for taking the chill and moisture out of the air so I can relax and enjoy being clean. It’s good quality, a good size and is plugged into a GFCI outlet.
An added benefit of the space heater is that is dehumidifies the bathroom air cutting down on foggy mirrors, mold and mildew formation.
Finally, don’t take chances in the bathroom. Have a baby monitor, “granny cam”, or signaling/alerting device ready for use in case of emergency. Make sure someone else knows you are in there or helps you with setting up and getting out of the bath.
If you are a caregiver for someone with dementia, making their bathing routine a spa-like experience is often recommended. This means adding safety features, comfort features, and convenience features like those specified here
Search on YouTube for videos by Teepa Snow about resistance to bathing with dementia.
See Shop Products page for equipment recommended in this and other, posts.