Whether it’s a shower stool, a bath chair, or a bath seat, these home mobility aides are invaluable tools for those who need them. While they are often associated with seniors, people of all ages might benefit from them. Here are four reasons you should consider buying a shower chair instead of opting for alternatives.
Greater Safety
Anyone can slip and fall in the shower without a bath seat. When you’re disabled, recovering from an injury, or experiencing problems caused by the passage of time, the risks are even greater. However, a good bath chair can significantly reduce those chances. Shower chairs for the elderly minimize the risk of slipping on that wet floor, getting in or out of the shower or tub.
The average shower stool has a textured seat so the user can’t slip out of it. The importance of this cannot be understated. The CDC estimates that more than 200,000 Americans are injured in their bathroom each year in this manner.
Greater Comfort
Shower seats can be a relief for those with arthritis and other health problems that make movement painful. Sitting down on a personal bath chair doesn’t require as much effort as sitting all the way down in the tub, though you’ll still be able to immerse yourself in the hot water to ease your aching joints.
Improved Personal Hygiene
If your balance is worsening with age, you are suffering from limited mobility due to health problems, or already disabled, then falling in the shower is terrifying. This leads to many people trying to minimize their time in the bathroom. This has a direct impact on personal hygiene.
There is another benefit to having your own bath seat. You can visit hotels or family members’ homes and use their bathrooms without fear. You will know how clean your own shower chair is instead of being reluctant to use the one provided by the hotel, since you don’t know how well they sterilized it since the last, unknown stranger used it. You can sterilize your own bath seat with the cleaners you choose and on your schedule.
Increased Independence
Installing a shower stool or bath chair allows you to take a shower by yourself when you want to do so. You don’t need a caregiver to help you in and out of the bathtub. Another benefit of a bath seat is that you can move it to wherever you need to use it. You can use it in the master shower, the hot tub, or the smaller tub in the guest bathroom. You aren’t limited to the one shower or tub that has a support bar.
There are bath chairs with wheels and supports that can help you get to the shower and allow you to position it where you want it before you take a shower or bath. A few models allow you to recline in it, so you can take that long hot bath you’ve wanted and do so on your own.
There are also bath chairs that function like wheelchairs, so someone who may otherwise need to wait for another to help them in and out of a tub could get to the shower themselves. These models can double as pool access chairs.
There are several bath seat and shower stool designs, all of which are flexible, versatile, and indispensable. If being unable to use your bath or shower correctly or as often as you like is affecting you, consider the benefits of a bath seat.
