While there’s never a good time to suffer from a slip and fall injury, the COVID-19 pandemic has made staying safe and independent in your home more important than ever — and that means avoiding trips to the emergency room, urgent care clinic, or doctor’s office.
An estimated 80% of all falls occur in bathrooms, thanks to the dangerous combination of damp, slippery surfaces, poor lighting, and lack of safety equipment. The good news is that making your bathroom safer is more accessible and affordable than you might expect. Here at Copper Star Home Medical, we stock a wide range of bathroom safety devices designed to help reduce your risks of falling at home.
Shower Safer With a Bath Seat
If you’ve ever slipped in the bathtub, you know how scary the experience can be. Not only do the hard surfaces increase the chances that you’ll wind up with painful contusions or even fractures, but since everything is slippery, recovering from a fall in the tub is nearly impossible without assistance.
Bath seats, also known as shower seats, provide a safe, sturdy spot to sit in the tub or shower. These seats are sturdy, easy to clean, and affordable, with many models available for under $50. Bath seats help reduce the risk of slipping in the tub due to the slippery, wet surface, and they are ideal for anyone with difficulty standing due to mobility issues or conditions that cause balance problems.
Bath stools are ideal for smaller shower stalls since these stools have a relatively small footprint while accommodating users weighing up to 300 lbs. Both can be upgraded by adding comfortable seat cushions and non-slip bath mats for comfort and security. There are also several bath seats and benches with comfortable backs and handles that can be used when transferring in and out of the tub and wall-mounted models that fold out of the way when not in use.
Adding Grab Bars to Your Bathroom
Another easy safety upgrade you can make in your bathroom is installing grab bars. Available in wall-mounted, tub-mounted, and floor-to-ceiling styles that can be adjusted for use when transferring on and off the toilet or as a stable support when stepping in and out of the bathtub or shower stall. We even stock fold-away PT rails that can be installed on either side of your toilet.
Enjoy a Comfort-Height Toilet Seat at Home
Ever notice how the toilets in hospitals, wheelchair-accessible hotel rooms, and ADA-compliant bathrooms can be more comfortable? That’s because ADA standards state that accessible toilets must have floor to seat height of 17 to 19″, which is 2 to 4″ higher than the standard 15″ residential toilet height. Those extra few inches can make all the difference when using the toilet independently.
While you could purchase and install an ADA-compliant toilet, a toilet seat riser is the most affordable way to make your bathroom safer. These simple, low-cost devices instantly transform any residential toilet into one that’s easier to get on and off for those with mobility issues and come with or without handles making installation a breeze.
Contact Us
Contact our home medical supply experts here at Copper Star Home Medical to learn more about how you can stay safe and independent at home.
