Perhaps the most important room in your home is the bathroom.
It’s necessary, but can be dangerous. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warns that falling in the bathroom can be especially harmful for old people with brittle bones.
You just aren’t as strong and agile as you once were. So, one tip for easier use is to raise the fixtures.
We recently replaced our old toilet, which was 14 or 15 inches tall with a new commode that is 17 inches in height. Those few extra inches make getting up much easier.
We also had a new basin put in that is higher than the former one. You don’t have to bend over when you wash your hands. Also the spigots are levers. So anyone with an arthritic problem in the fingers or hands can easily push the faucets down and up, without having to turn handles to get the right amount of flow.
Some seniors prefer a single-handle faucet. If you install this type of faucet, the CDC recommends that you get one with a hot limit safety stop that keeps you from turning too far toward the hot side.
A thermostatic mixing valve also can be installed to allow the temperature to be preselected.
We have a system that permits setting the temperature of the shower in advance. This way, a steady flow of your preferred temperature will continue from the time you turn it on and the time you turn it off. Our shower also has a handheld unit in addition to the regular showerhead. This is convenient to use when sitting in the built-in seat, which we also have in our shower.
A waterproof chair can fit into a bathtub for washing, too. And there is a commode chair on the market with a built-in toilet chamber. It can be moved from one room to another.
Grab bars in the shower are a must. We have two strategically installed 18-inch grab bars in our shower. One can be used to aid in rising from the shower seat.
A grab bar near the toilet also might be handy for easier rising.
There’s an outfit that does a lot of television advertising, which offers a walk-in shower that fills like a bath tub and has bubbling units that purportedly sooth arthritis pains.
We investigated this system and sat through a two-hour pitch from a sales rep before we learned the price they were asking. I barely managed to keep from falling off my chair when the price was mentioned. Then the salesman offered a less expensive model, which also was high enough to break the bank. We said: Thanks, but no thanks. He then sullenly pulled out of our driveway in his red, convertible BMW.
So, instead, we hired a contractor who put in our shower system for half the price the sullen salesman was seeking.
As for the bathroom floor, remove any small rug that might slip out from underfoot. The bathroom floor should be slip resistant. In fact, soft, pliable flooring material might keep a senior from cracking his or her skull in a fall -- not a fun way to conclude a bath.
Tait Trussell is an old guy and fourth-generation professional journalist who writes extensively about aging issues among a myriad of diverse topics.