Safer Showering

According to statistics, the bathroom is one of the most dangerous rooms in the house, and common sense will have you agree. The links for the Research I am using are at the end of the Blog.

Large proportion of injuries in the home occur in the bathroom, with the highest rates of injuries occurring when bathing, showering, or getting out of the shower or bath.

Injuries when bathing and showering was caused by slipping, when standing up from down in the bath, and on exiting the bath or shower recess.

Injury rates increased with age, but injuries did occur in younger age groups.

And females had more injuries – probably because of lack of muscle strength compared to males.

No further information was divulged, but it would be safe to say pregnancy, long term and short term illness and/or disability, including recovery from surgery or previous injury, and medications, could be causes, especailly in the younger groups.

The CDC study found that the majority of “slip” injuries indoors occurred in the bathroom, in the bath, shower recess and spa.

The Monash study suggested bathroom improvements to reduce risk of injury such as hand rails and non-slip floors. These can be quite costly, and in most cases, it may just be simply a matter of providing a chair or stool that will avoid, or reduce the risk of, slipping and falls in the bath or shower in the first place.

Sitting helps with balance, and may reduce the symptoms of dizziness and being light-headed. Sitting also reduces the energy required to wash. Resting an injured leg, or lifting a leg whilst shaving/washing offers balance. Being supported in these ways can improve confidence with self-washing,and the risk of slipping, or falling, is minimalised. A chair or stool can help maintain, or increase, a person's independence and can also be helpful with Assisted bathing/showering.

If you are not sure if this is a solution to a bathing/showering concern for you, consult your Doctor or Rehab/Physio.

It is a simple solution, and worth considering. But complex situations, including medication side effects, medical symptoms or long-term illness or disability will need further investigation and support. See Helpful Health Information  for contact numbers that may help.

Otherwise, if the Shower/Bath Chair/Stool sounds like it might be the solution for you, please read our  Blogs for more information!!

Or go to items:

Shower-and-bath-chair-stool/ Shower Chair with removable backrest and armrests

Shower-and-bath-stool

Shower-chair-commode/

References:

Monash University (Aust) 

http://www.monash.edu/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/218459/haz59.pdf

CDC - Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, USA. http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6022a1.htmith .