Physical Aids for the Bathroom

There are many situations where standard orthopedic products can only go so far, and whilst beds, mattresses, chairs and shoes can have a benefit to many people's lives, they cannot perform tasks or overcome certain challenges.

One such example is in using and adapting to a bathroom when the mobility that most people take for granted has been lost or restricted by age, injury obesity or a physical limitation.

Using a bathroom can become more difficult as we get older or less mobile and furniture like baths, showers, wash basins and toilets can become a problem to use.

As examples, getting into and out of a bath, leaning over a wash basin, standing in a shower and sitting on a toilet can all become physically demanding tasks. These activities may also be difficult for anyone with a physical limitation or anyone who has a large or heavy build.

In summary a bathroom can quickly become a challenging room to use for someone who does not enjoy good health, has a disability, or is advanced in years. The good news is that there are many solutions to bathroom use.

Available bathroom aids

Most bathrooms can easily (and quite cheaply) be made less of an obstacle course by adding helpful aids and modifications. These can make the main items of bathroom furniture easier to use. A snapshot of some of these bathroom modifications can be found at Bathroom Aids, or alternatively you can see the information and examples described below.

Toilets with lifting seats

In addition to (fixed) standard seats and stools, an electric adjustable seat can be a component of another item of bathroom furniture like a toilet. Lift-seats for toilets have a seat that can be raised and lowered by remote control using an electric motor. Indeed, you can even get a shower toilet that provides a hygienic washing system that removes the need for toilet paper or self cleansing.

Portable toilets (commode)

The commode, or mobile toilet, can be a good solution when stairs and moving from room to room become a serious physical effort for someone. A commode can be kept close at hand enabling any room in the house to briefly become a bathroom. The word commode may sound unappealing, but modern portable toilets are hygienic, simple to empty and easy to clean. In fact many commodes can be used as shower chairs (they are called combi-chairs) and this makes them doubly useful for anyone with severe mobility issues.

Walk-in baths

Although these are generally a replacement item, walk in baths are a great solution for anyone finding the process of getting into a bath challenging. These specially designed baths have a side opening door that removes the need to step over the bath’s side wall. The minor downside to this is that they need to be filled with water after the bather has entered the bath - although fast fill and fast drain mechanisms reduce the fill and drain times.

A further bath tub aid is the adjustable bath seat. Bath seats (also known as bath lifts) allow a bather to sit down on the seat before being lowered down into the bath. The reverse motion allows them to leave the bath and a remote control unit gives operational control to the bather at all times. See Bath lifts.

Bathroom seating

Chairs and seats of various types and constructions are excellent additions to a regular bathroom. They need to be waterproof, have non-slip bases, or be fixed to a solid surface. These seats can be used in showers, placed by a wash basin, or moved around to suit their user’s requirements. Many fixed seats will fold away when not in use.

Grab rails

Grab rails can be positioned at critical points within the bathroom, e.g. inside showers, adjacent to toilets, to the side of wash basins etc. Rails and handles can make it much easier for someone to lift or lower themselves and they offer an extra little bit of piece of mind when using the facilities of a bathroom. Many older, larger or mobility restricted people have a great fear of falling and grab rails can alleviate this concern.