Walk in Bathtubs Offer Excellent Health Benefits to Seniors

While walk in tubs offer safety and accessibility to seniors, they have a lot more to offer. In fact, these tubs often come with water or air jets that can provide a variety of health benefits, helping to relieve the symptoms of muscle cramps, back problems, arthritis, diabetes and more. If you’re considering whether to purchase a walk in bathtub for your home, consider some of the great benefits that these walk in bathtubs have to offer.

First, these walk in tubs offer hydrostatic pressure, combining together weightlessness in the water with the massaging action of the jets. This helps to relieve tight muscles. As those muscles loosen, it helps to ease some of the pain throughout the body. Endorphins are released as muscles loosen, which also helps to provide some pain relief.

Many walk in bath tubs have a hydro massage system and adjustable jets. Adjustable jets for the back work to alleviate back pain. Hydro massage systems work to increase flexibility by relaxing major muscles within the body. Tubs that have an air massage system provide the feeling of small massages all over the body.

The warm temperature of these tubs also provides health benefits. Warm water helps to provide relaxation as well as a significant amount of pain relief. The movement of the water works to improve blood circulation and even eases inflammation.

Along with these excellent health benefits, walk in tubs also come with a special low entryway that makes it easy for seniors with mobility problems to enter the tub. Most tubs come with grip bars that provide more safety and the floors are designed to be slip resistant, preventing falls in the tub. Many tubs also can accommodate a moveable shower head, allowing individuals to use the walk in bathtub much like a shower as well. The comfortable seat allows seniors to sit down while bathing, helping to prevent weakness or stability issues that could lead to an accident.

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Safe Bathing, Easy Maintenance and Relaxing Hydrotherapy

Many seniors deal with injuries due to falls in the bathtub or shower. In fact, millions seniors fall each year and most of those falls actually occur in the bathroom. For those dealing with limited mobility, dealing with a traditional bathtub or shower becomes dangerous, resulting in the loss of independence for seniors. However, seniors dealing with mobility issues do have an option that can help big time.

Walk in bath tubs make it easy for seniors to simply walk into the tub. While these tubs do require an investment and some installation, they are well worth the investment since they help give seniors back their independence. The following are just a few of the top benefits these walk in tubs have to offer.

Safe Bathing

One of the main benefits of these walk in tubs is their ability to allow seniors to bath safely. These tubs have a door that makes it easy for seniors to walk right into the tub instead of dealing with the dangerous ledge that comes with traditional bathtubs. These tubs include helpful seats, a skid-resistant floor, grab bars and other helpful features that allow seniors to enjoy safe bathing once again.

Easy Maintenance

Another benefit of walk in bathtubs is the simple maintenance they require. These tubs simply wipe clean and they don’t require a lot of scrubbing like most bathtubs do. Seniors need tubs that require little maintenance and these walk in tubs make maintenance easier than ever.

Relaxing Hydrotherapy

Last, you’ll find that walk in tubs also provide seniors with the benefit of relaxing hydrotherapy. Not only is hydrotherapy relaxing, but it is healing as well. Moving, warm water has healing properties and can help relieve some of the pain that comes with arthritis. This is just one more benefit that seniors can enjoy when they decide to install walk in bath tubs for their bathing needs.

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Walk in Tubs Provide Great Features that Keep Seniors Safe

For individuals dealing with limited mobility, walk in tubs have a lot to offer. It provides a great way for many seniors and other individuals with mobility issues to take care of personal hygiene tasks on their own. This offers users the ability to keep their independence. Many of the best walk in bath tubs offer more than just safety – they actually create a luxurious, relaxing bathing experience too.

How do walk in tubs work? They are designed with a special door that opens, allowing the individual to easily walk into the tub without having to worry about taking big steps. After shutting the door, a watertight seam creates the tub basin. Users can simply sit down in the tub and enjoy a safe, enjoyable bath.

Many walk in bathtubs come with a variety of different features. One of the main features offered on most tubs is a built-in seat. This allows users to bathe while sitting in the tub. Most tubs come with safety rails as well, allowing individuals with balance or other mobility issues to hold on while entering, exiting and using the tub. Special non-skid flooring or non-skid strips are featured in these tubs, providing traction and reducing the risk of slips and falls while in the tub.

Another common feature of many walk in tubs is a hand-held showerhead. This allows users to shower in the tub without needing to plug the drain. The water simply drains away. For those that take a bath in the walk in tub, the water must be drained before the door is opened again.

All the features offered by walk in bath tubs help to keep seniors safe. They allow seniors to enjoy greater independence, making it easy to bathe on their own without the need of an assistant or nurse. Many people are also surprised to find that these tubs are quite compact. They don’t take up a lot of space, making it easy to fit them in bathrooms of nearly any size.

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Walk In Bath Tubs Mean Safety, Security and Better Quality of Life for the Elderly & Senior Citizens

Walk in bath tubs can bring a feeling of relief, safety and security to the elderly and senior citizens. Raising the quality of life and increasing independence make us all feel more useful and vital.

Getting older means many things; gained experience, wisdom and knowledge to name a few. But it also means diminished physical capacity in many cases. This can cause us to be less able to do things that others take for granted, like get into a standard bathtub. This is where walk in bath tubs make all the difference.

Besides being convenient and easy to use, walk in tubs also provide a suite of benefits to the elderly. Here are just a few:

• Safety – The problem with stepping over the rim of a standard tub is tripping or falling. A walk in bathtub removes that problem immediately. Just step in through a swinging door and you’re in.
• Security – All flooring is designed to be non-slip so slipping or falling is no longer an issue. Bath tub slips are responsible for over 75% of injuries among senior citizens each year.
• Comfort – Once inside, all walk in bath tubs have a raised seat that is molded into the tub design. Usually, this seat is around the height of a chair. No need to sit at floor level where getting up can be difficult.
• Independence – Nothing stings worse than not being able to take care of oneself. Walk in tubs bring independence and increased self worth.
• Quality of life – When we are able to do things on our own, we have a greater quality of life as a result.

Walk in bathtubs are available in a variety of colors and styles to fit your needs. All will fit through a standard doorway and can be professionally installed in a single day.

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Walk In Bathtub: The Huge Help They Offer

At first glance, a walk in tub might look somewhat odd in design. For the average person not involved in physical therapy, the look does seem a little strange, but it is not a look designed for aesthetics. Those who may be elderly or suffer from a physical disability will be quick to point out the value of walk in bathtubs. The tubs are crafted in such a way that accessibility is offered to those who otherwise could not use a traditional bathtub. There are many surprising benefits of a walk- in tub.

Tubs of this nature are also designed to contribute therapeutic benefits. The whirlpools produced by a walk in tub can aid in alleviating a number of common ailments. By having such a tub installed in the home, the need to travel to a physical therapy office for such sessions is no longer necessary.

For daily washing, a common alternative is the installation of a special seated shower chair. These chairs are very comfortable and, honestly, do not really help anyone get the most out of their shower time. Walk in bathtubs are the far better solution, which is why they have become so popular if not outright necessary.

A bit of thought may be necessary to select the right tub. The size and the dimensions of the tub play a critical role in terms of which tub would be the right one to purchase. Measuring the interior of the bathroom prior to selecting a particular tub is suggested. Investing in a tub that is too tight of a fit in a bathroom brings forth a host of problems. First, the look of the bathroom would be undermined by the crowding. Second, a trip hazard is present due to such little room for maneuverability.

Effective budgeting has to go into the process as well. There certainly is a huge difference in price among all the various models available. The price can range from $2,000 to $5,000. The higher priced tubs might very well be packed with extra features, but the lower priced ones might be more than adequate in terms of delivering sought after results.

Check out best selling walk in tubs here.

The key here is to be sure the right sized walk in bathtubs are bought for the right price for the right therapeutic needs.

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Simplify life for an aging adult with a walk in bathtub

Helping an aging adult live independently as long as possible can be a simple process if you keep safety and accessibility in mind and think long-term as you make plans to renovate an existing home or just parts of the home.

Since mobility may be a problem, as well as balance, one easy place to start is in the bathroom. The bathroom is the one room in the home where the most accidents occur, especially slip-and-falls. Anyone, no matter the age, can slip on a puddle of water, or trip over the lid of a standard shower or bath tub. But with a few adjustments, you can decrease the chance for such an accident and make life a little easier.

Start with the floor. Make sure anything you can get off of the floor is off. Clean floors are a must, if you can. Depending on the type of remodeling project you’re willing to take on, you may want to install a pedestal vanity. Below, we’ll talk about non-skid mats you can put down if you decide not to remodel your bathroom to help an aging adult live independently, but you may want to consider carpeting the entire floor. This type of renovation will ensure that water does not pool on the floor, which could cause someone to slip and fall.

On the walls, you should install grab bars, which can help someone stay balanced as they move around the bathroom. Certainly, you should install grab bars near the toilet and the shower/tub itself. Make sure you install the grab bars in drywall, and make sure that they are firmly anchored into place. One surefire way to cause someone to slip and fall is if a grab bar someone is holding onto comes loose from the wall.

Look at the appliances you have in the bathroom. Electricity and water don’t mix, so anything with a plug should be replaced with battery-operated appliances.

Another easy fix is replacing any knobs in the bathroom (like on a cabinet) with pulls. Pulls are easier for someone with limited mobility to use, as opposed to knobs, which must be twisted. Someone with arthritis may find knobs difficult to use. Something as simple as pulls is an easy way to help someone.

And look at the lighting in the bathroom. Is there enough lighting for someone to see if there is water on the floor, or where the lip of the tub or shower is? Consider adding lights above the toilet and above the shower.

Perhaps the most important renovation you can do is to replace your existing tub or shower with a walk-in tub. Such a tub provides not only peace of mind but also a safe space in which someone can clean themselves. With no lip to step over, you minimize possible slip and falls. You may also want to install a seat in the shower, so that someone with limited mobility does not have to stand while showering. If you cannot install a walk-in tub, then consider installing at least a seat.

If you choose not to replace your current shower or tub with a walk-in tub, then you should, at the very least, put in place non-skid mats on the floor, perhaps several, and definitely one by the tub or shower. A mat will not only give someone using the tub or shower a fairly dry surface on which to stand (you may want to take it off the floor in between showers or baths, if possible), but it will also help someone using the shower or tub stay balanced as they get into and out of a standard shower.

Helping someone retain the ability to live independently is something that is important to do as well as simple to do, if you take into account all the ways in which someone may get hurt in the bathroom. A few changes can go a long way.

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3 Do It Yourself Bathroom Safety Tips For Your Home or Business

The bathroom is one of the most accident-prone areas in the house. It is very important to exhaust all means to keep it safe. This is all the more important if you have children, elderly or handicapped members in the household. But how can you keep your bathroom safe through DIY means? Here are some useful tips to help keep yourself and your loved ones safe when using the bathroom:

1. Make Sure to Childproof the Bathroom

Among features to check to ensure child safety are as follows:

– The electrical outlets: make sure that you install ground fault circuit interrupters (GFCI) that help prevent shock; most new electrical items for the bathroom already have these so if you still don’t, ask someone from your home improvement store how to get one.

• – Electrical items: keep them away from water sources, always unplug when not in use
• – Water temperature: make sure to set your hot water to a constant temperature to ensure they don’t scald you
• – Childproof latches: put latches on the toilets and in the trash bins to ensure the safety of your young child
• – Cleaning products and medicines: make sure to put these in an area not accessible to small children

2. Install Safety Bars

Install safety grab bars in areas where slips most frequently occur – the toilet and the shower or tub. Installing one should be pretty easy. They usually come with instructions when you buy them from the home improvement store. Here are some useful instructions for installation:

– Mount bar either diagonally or parallel to the floor, ideally 36 inches from the tub.

– Mark the areas where the holes have to be drilled to keep the grab handle in place.

– Drill through the tile by starting off with a 1/8 bit, then slowly enlarging the hole with a 1/4 then finally a 5/32 to drill into the stud.

– Anchor the bar into the tub, and screw it with 2-inch wood screws.

3. Apply Non-Slip Solutions in the Bathroom

Tubs, showers and your tired floors are almost always slippery when wet. While it is always ideal to invest in tubs like walkin bathtubs where there are non-slip surfaces in place, you can, for the meantime, simply buy slip-proof bath mats for your existing tub or shower. You may also consider putting some non-slip appliques in these areas to decrease the risk of slips and falls. Furthermore, rubberized bath rugs can provide great protection against slips. Make sure to put a few if you have elderly members in the home; throw away those standard throw tugs as they could nastily lead to a fall as the elders shuffle their feet when they walk.

The most important thing to consider in the bathroom is to prioritize functionality and safety much more than aesthetics and form. Never neglect the safety of your family; be sure to always be vigilant about keeping them protected at all times. Open your eyes to each and every possibility of danger and act against it.

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Five Steps to Building a Custom Bathtub for Seniors

CUSTOM WALK IN BATHTUBS FOR SENIORS

Building a Walk in bathtubs for seniors, or someone with a mobility handicap, may become a necessity as time passes. Things that seem simple, like getting in and out of a raised tub, may become impossible. But a specially designed tub that takes into account the needs of an aging adult can help ease your worry and make the task of bathing easier.

You can probably complete a bathtub project in less than a weekend, as long as you make a checklist of what you need to do it and follow it. How many of your do-it-yourself projects end up taking longer than expected because you didn’t follow your things-to-do list? Keep this list handy, and you will stay on track and have your tub installed in a timely fashion.

Pick the right bathtub for seniors

There are options. Plenty of them. Keep in mind the person’s current and future mobility. Don’t custom build a bathtub for seniors today that will need to be redone in five years. Planning ahead will save you headaches in the future. You can find tubs that will accommodate someone who does and does not need a wheelchair. Ultimately, pick the tub that works best for the person who will use it. Get their input. They may not like that they need a new tub, so make sure you keep that in mind when you talk to them.

Create a Realistic Budget

How much can you spend to remodel the bathroom? You may need to address other issues in the bathroom along with the tub. Don’t worry about building out the current bathroom unless there is or may be a wheelchair involved. Modifying your existing tub will cost less than installing a new tub, but modifying your tub now and then installing a new tub in the future will have a higher cost than installing a new tub now that will continue to be functional and usable as the adult ages.

Get Estimates on your next Walk in Bathtubs For Seniors

Estimates are important if you’re going to install the tub yourself or if you’re going to find someone to do it for you. Get estimates on how much a new tub, and how much modifying an existing tub, will cost. If you decide to hire someone to do the work for you, talk about how much of the work you can do yourself. You may be able to install grab bars, flooring, and mats in the tub, which will lower the overall out-of-pocket costs associated with hiring someone to take on a bathroom remodel.

Install Grab Bars

Grab bars and slip-proof flooring may be all you need to do to make your bathroom and tub safer and easier to use. Consider the person’s current and future mobility in any decision you make. Do they need a seat in the tub? Will they need a seat in the tub?

Any Extras?

You can easily increase the function of a tub, as well as any future resale value, by including built-in steam features, Jacuzzi-style jets, and showerheads that have different speeds and that may detach from the wall. Choose extras that fit the décor of the bathroom.

Building a bathtub, especially one that takes into account all of the challenges an aging adult may face, can be moderately difficult. But the benefits inherent in making sure your loved one is able to safely take a shower or a bath are innumerable.

But we can help.

What we at Independent Home can do is make sure your aging loved one never has to worry when he or she steps into the tub again, which means you never have to worry. Our walk-in tubs are designed to make sure the elderly, and men and women with mobility handicaps, can safely enter and exit the walk in bathtub for seniors. Call us at 800-373-4322 any time or fill out this form and we can get back to you when it’s convenient for you.

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12 Ways to Safety-Proof Your Bathroom

According to The State of Home Safety in America, a study that the Home Safety Council conducts, the leading cause of unintentional deaths caused by injuries in the home is falling. About 5.1 million injuries are caused in the home by a fall, and of those injuries, nearly 6,000 lead to someone dying.

The bathroom, says the Council, even if the smallest room in your house, may have the most hidden (and sometimes not-so-hidden) dangers. Think about it. In the bathroom, there is the possibility of drowning, getting burned, falling, getting poisoned, and getting shocked. No matter the age of the person or people using the bathroom, the Council has put together a list of safety tips to keep in mind. The tips range from quick and easy to implement to completing a total bathroom renovation.

To Safety-Proof Your Bathroom:

• Install a grab bar by the bathtub, shower, and toilet
• Put non-slip strips in your tub and shower
• Put a bath mat next to the tub and shower (preferably a bath mat with a non-skid bottom)
• Make sure your bathroom floor stays clean and dry
• Clean up spills immediately
• Use a nightlight (consider getting one that turns on automatically when it is dark in the room)
• Know what in your bathroom are poisons (e.g., cleaning supplies, medicines)
• Read labels on boxes and bottles you have in your bathroom, and look for words like caution, warning, poison, and danger
• Never take medicine or cleaning agents out of the containers in which they came and put in a different container
• Set your water heater at no higher than 120 degrees Fahrenheit
• Never leave a lit candle burning unattended
• Remodel your bathroom, including installing a walk-in bathtub
• Add a no lip shower

Implementing some of these tips will be easy, but others may require you to seek professional help. If you’re thinking about remodeling your bathroom so that an elderly adult has an easier time using the shower/tub, keep in mind that the easiest fix is your tub itself.

The higher the tub, the more likely someone can get hurt getting in and out of it. The lower the tub (and the lowest would be a walk-in tub or shower), the more likely you can prevent a fall from occurring.

What we at Independent Home can do is make sure your aging loved one never has to worry when he or she steps into the tub again, which means you never have to worry. Our walk-in tubs are designed to make sure the elderly, and men and women with mobility handicaps, can safely enter and exit the bathtub. Call us at 800-373-4322 any time and we can get back to you when it’s convenient for you.

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How to Safety-Proof Your Bathroom: Toilets

While the hidden dangers associated with your bathroom are great, preventing bathroom-related accidents is mostly easy to do and can be done in an afternoon. This is the third in a series of posts about how you can safety-proof your bathroom.

But you don’t have to do it alone. We can help make sure your aging loved one never has to worry when he or she steps into the tub again, which means you never have to worry. Our walk-in tubs are designed to make sure the elderly, and men and women with mobility handicaps, can safely enter and exit the bathtub. Call us at 800-373-4322 any time or fill out this form and we can get back to you when it’s convenient for you.

Toilets

Standard-size toilets are usually 15 to 17 inches tall (measured from the floor to the top of the seat), and seats at this height can become difficult for an elderly or mobility-impaired person to sit on, especially someone with arthritis or problems with their hips, knees, and/or back. Installing a raised toilet seat can give someone the height they need to safely and more easily sit on the toilet.

A 15-inch toilet means someone sitting down on it will need to squat, which can injure someone’s knees or aggravate an existing knee injury. Even if such an injury does not occur, and even if you can sit on the toilet, some people may find standing after difficult.

Installing a raised toilet seat can give someone who needs help added independence. Asking someone to help you sit and stand from the toilet may be, at best, awkward, but more than likely embarrassing (for both parties). And since raised toilet seats are easy to install, when the time comes that someone needs help sitting and standing, such a project may be the best way to ease someone into the idea of a bathroom remodel based on their current or future mobility needs.

So how high to elevate? An extra five or seven inches may do the trick. You can find a molded plastic seat that will adhere to your existing toilet, or you can install a raised platform over the toilet (depending on how much room you have in your bathroom) on which someone can sit comfortably. Such a device may be useful if there are several people sharing a bathroom, since the device can be moved after use by someone who needs it.

Along with raising the toilet seat, you should install grab bars around the toilet. See our feature on installing safety bars in the shower for tips on other places where safety bars may be useful.

When installing safety bars for use near the toilet, consider how much wall space you have near the toilet, how close other fixtures will be to the installed safety bar, and if the safety bar will interfere with other people in the household who may be using the toilet. As with safety bars you install in the shower, never use a towel rod as a safety bar, as towel rods are not sturdy enough to help someone if they start to slip.

With about 5.1 million people injured in the home each year due to slipping and falling, you can help prevent such an accident from happening in your bathroom by putting in place effective safety measures.

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