Handicap Shower Stalls | 5 Tips To Increase Safety In Handicap Shower Stalls

5 Tips To Increase Safety In Handicap Shower Stalls

Increasing the safety of your family members or guests is top priority, especially if you have anyone with disabilities or physical handicaps.  Going overboard in the design of handicap shower stalls can often set your family members up for even more harm, rather than helping care for themselves.  In order to avoid having your elderly or disabled family members injured while scrubbing up, there are a few tips that you need to take into consideration.

Tip #1 – Use sticky mats, everywhere!

When your family members are moving around inside of the shower, they can often times fall from the slippery surface on the showers floor.  These sticky mats are incredibly cheap, especially when you compare their benefits against the cost of your family member falling, and injuring themselves.  The best places you can put rubber or plastic in a handicap shower stall is on the floor inside of the shower, underneath your bench legs, as well as on the floor outside of the shower.  These areas are where your feet spend the most time, so you need to make sure that you have proper balance, without a fear of falling down.

Ginsey Rubbermaid Extra Large Rubber Bath Mat, White

Ginsey, rubbermaid, e by tra large rubber bath mat, white, 17-inch by 36-inch.

Extra Long Vinyl Bath Mat

Our Extra Long Bath Mat provides maximum coverage in the tub and reliable slip protection on almost any non-textured tub surface.

Bamboo Bath Mat

Add a unique design element to your bathroom with this creative and comfortable bath mat.

Tip #2 – Do away with the glass doors!

Even though you may love the look of glass shower doors, you are going to need to get rid of them.  Glass doors are nice to look at, but if you or your family member slips inside the shower, they can easily give way, leaving glass shards scattered throughout the shower and bathroom.  Instead of worrying about this situation, find someone who wants to buy the glass doors, and head out to purchase a new shower rod and curtain.  A shower curtain is much safer for you or your family members than glass doors will ever be.

Tip #3 – Ensure proper placement of the grab bars.

If you intend to safe money during the project, which most homeowners will, you may want to consider buying a handicapped shower stall that is bare of any grab bars.  Because you are trying to save money, you may have to sacrifice features, which is not necessarily a bad thing.  Going bare allows you to ensure proper placement of the grab bars once you have the shower installed.  Your bathroom may not be the same shape, size, or style of the bathroom area that the stalls manufacturers had in mind.  This can cause your family members to lose their balance as they reach for bars that are in awkward positions.  You will have to install your own bars onto the stall, though.

Tip #4 – Shower grab bars with suction cups

When using grab bars in a shower or bath, it is best if they are installed directly into the stud in the wall. This will provide a more secure shower grab bar. Sometimes you will be unable to anchor the grab bars. In that case you will be looking for shower grab bars with suction cups. These type of grab bars are for balance and not to hold your weight. They can help steady a person, but if you need a grab bar for weight, tehn you will need one that can be anchored to the wall.

Bridge Medical Single Grip Portable Grab Bar

Falls are the most common accident around the home, the majority of them happening in the bathroom. More than 1/3 of all adults 65 years and older fall…

Bridge Medical Medium Telescoping Portable Grab Bar

FFalls are the most common accident around the home, the majority of them happening in the bathroom. More than 1/3 of all adults 65 years and older fall…

Rose Safe-er-Grip Bathtub & Shower Handle, 23.5 in.

Get a handle on bathroom safety with this bathtub and shower handle. The 23.5 in. Safe-er-Grip Balance Assist Bar for tub and shower from Rose Health…

Tip #5 – Avoid sharp edges.

When you get rid of the glass doors in your shower area, or if they were included handicap accessible shower stalls, there are going to be tracks that remain around the opening of the shower.  These sharp edges can cut your family members relatively easily.  To keep from having to worry, simply remove the door tracks from the stall or shower, and fill in the holes with a caulk or waterproof plumbers putty.

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