Millions of people take a shower or bath every day, but many don’t think about preventing falls in the bathroom. Follow along if you want to learn how to prevent falls in the bathroom.
Falls are an increasing problem as we age. They can lead to severe injury and even death. Unfortunately, many falls (60%) happen in the bathroom. However, by taking a few precautions, you can avoid or minimize your risk of falling.
So, when you’re in the bathroom, what are some things you should keep in mind to prevent yourself from falling?
Prevent Falls in Bathrooms by Making Them Safe
- Install a grab bar next to the toilet for use when standing up from a seated position. Install grab bars along both sides of the tub/shower and toilet area (the side walls). Make sure they are securely bolted or screwed into studs in the wall.
- Get an assessment from your doctor to determine if you need any assistive devices at home, such as a cane, walker, or scooter.
- Wear shoes with nonslip soles that fit well and provide good ankle support.
- Be aware that medications such as tranquilizers, sleep aids, antidepressants, and painkillers may cause dizziness, blurred vision, drowsiness, confusion, trouble walking well, and general unsteadiness. Ask your doctor how these medicines might affect you and whether alternatives won’t be sedating.
More Safety Tips
- Don’t rush! Take your time, and be especially careful around drawers and closets.
- Make sure to look down when you’re choosing an outfit – you want to avoid a misstep into something sharp or breakable.
- Check to make sure there are no trip hazards like power cords, floor mats, rugs, and clutter in your path to the bathroom or any other room at home.
- If you will be getting up during the night, put special lighting on for yourself – this may help prevent falls when walking around your home at night.
- Limit your alcohol intake. Excessive drinking can make you unsteady on your feet, especially when you haven’t eaten in several hours.
- Watch out for water hazards in the bathroom.
Top Bathroom Safety Equipment:
- A grab bar.
- A nonslip bath mat.
- Tub and Shower Chair
- Install a raised toilet seat.
- Handheld showerhead.
- Use a bath bench with nonskid feet.
- Bathtub gripping rubber strips.
- Wear Nonslip slippers, socks, or shoes.
- If possible, an anti-scald device on your faucets.
- Install well-lit areas.
- Provide your loved one with a long “grabber” to help reach items.
- If your loved one falls, call 911 immediately.
Don’t let your fear of falling keep you from living life fully each day.
Preventing Falls in the Shower
There are several things you can do on your own to help prevent bathroom falls: removing rugs or anything that could get wet, putting nonslip bath mats in the tub/shower area, installing grab bars next to the toilet and around the tub/shower area, wearing shoes with nonslip soles that fit well and provide good ankle support, checking medications that may cause dizziness or drowsiness.
It may seem like a simple thing, but tripping in the shower happens a lot more often than you might think, and preventing falls in the bathroom shower is surprisingly easy.
Use a Bathmat
If you don’t have a bathmat in your bathroom, then this is one of the simplest ways to prevent falls in the shower. Put a nonskid mat in the tub or shower.
Install nonslip bath mats at tub/shower entrances; consider safety tread strips applied with double-stick tape. Be sure you use textured strips rather than smooth plastic versions.
Keep the Bathroom Tidy
Another simple thing that you can do to prevent yourself from falling is to clean up any messes that you might have made before taking a shower.
Again, this might seem like a simple thing, but it’s easy for water and soap to slip and make a mess, which can lead you to fall as well accidentally.
Remove rugs or anything that could get wet and create a slip, trip, or fall hazard.
Sure Your Steady
Preventing falls in the bathroom is also about ensuring that you can stand up on your own two feet without assistance or support if it’s about avoiding yourself from slipping. If you have or need any kind of support in the bathroom, then preventing falls is about making sure that it’ll hold your weight when you’re wet and standing up.
Get Help
Preventing falls in the bathroom prevents slips and avoids injury after slipping. You should always get help if you need it because preventing falls is about preventing accidents rather than panicking when they happen.
Use a Shower Chair
Preventing bathroom falls means avoiding the risk of falling in the tub or shower.
Stopping bathroom falls also necessitates ensuring that you have something to support your weight when you’re in the shower.
A simple way to do this is by using a shower chair.
Bathroom falls are increasing as we age and can lead to severe injury and even death.
Falls are more common in homes with clutter, poor lighting, rugs, and inadequate assistive devices.
Adding Safety Features to Prevent Falls in Bathrooms
If you would like to add some safety features to your bathroom, here are some things to consider:
Wall-Mounted grab bars and raised toilet seats with grips and armrests.
When drying yourself with a towel, remember to bend at the knees instead of the waist. Bending at the waist can lose balance when getting up from a seated position.
Tips to Prevent Falls in Bathrooms
- If you feel dizzy, sit down and hold on to the side of the bathtub until you regain your balance and can stand up safely.
- Make a list of emergency numbers near your phone or program into your cellphone, so you can quickly reach someone who could help if necessary.
- As always, be sure to ask your doctor any questions about preventing falls in the bathroom that you may have.
- Keep all your medications up high and out of reach from children or pets.
- Install an emergency cord to pull or a medical alert device in the bathroom.
- Keep your toothbrush and other essentials within arm’s reach.
- Consider installing an elevated toilet seat if you are elderly or have trouble sitting down on a regular toilet seat.
Get Help from an Occupational Therapist
A therapist can show you how to safely transfer in and out of your tub or shower, use a handheld showerhead, install grab bars, etc. If you cannot safely bathe yourself, speaking to an occupational therapist may be helpful.
Taking action to prevent falls in the bathroom prevents accidents rather than panicking when they happen.
Remember that preventing falls in the bathroom is about preventing slips and preventing injuries after slipping. Therefore, you should always get help if you need it because preventing falls is also about preventing accidents rather than panicking when they happen.
Video: Exercise Can Help Prevent Falls in Bathrooms
Exercises to Help Your Balance – Prevent Falling
Falling over is something that happens to many people as they age. Falling can be a real problem for older people because it makes them more likely to get sick and less likely to recover from an injury.
If you have relatives who have problems with their balance, you can do exercises with them that will help improve their balance and prevent falls.
Tai Chi Exercises That Help Your Balance
One of the exercises to help your balance that is very popular in China is Tai Chi. In Tai Chi exercises, you learn a series of slow and controlled movements designed to improve your balance and self-defense skills.
It would help if you had a lot of core strength for Tai Chi exercises, but once you have mastered them, they will help strengthen your back and improve your coordination and poise.
Tai Chi exercises can be an excellent way for older people with balance issues to maintain their health and fitness levels.
Balance Exercises with Resistance Bands
Physical therapists specializing in assisting older people in remaining healthy and avoiding accidents use resistance bands.
If you decide to use them, there are some exercises you should make sure they avoid. First of all, activities which involve a twisting torso movement can be dangerous if the balance isn’t good.
The same goes for exercises that involve lifting or moving either leg off the ground without support from the other.
Patients should not perform weight-bearing exercises on one leg until they have been examined by their doctor and given the all-clear to do so.
However, resistance bands are fantastic for building core strength and stability in your muscles – two things that will help improve an older person’s balance immensely.
You can use them to build muscle groups like quads and hip flexors- all muscles that will allow them to walk with greater ease and less risk of accidents.
Tips for Helping Your Balance at Home
Finally, at-home balance activities are possible without the need for specialized equipment.
Such as standing on one leg in front of the kitchen sink while doing the dishes.
While standing exercises are suitable for working on core strength, walking activities are great for learning how to control yourself when walking when stability is an issue. You can do these by walking along a straight line made by the edge of a piece of furniture in your home.
Falls are scary, and they can cause severe injury or even death when you’re an older person.
However, exercises to help your balance will improve coordination and poise dramatically. And they don’t require any special equipment or extensive physical training.
If you need help with these exercises, talk with your doctor about visiting a physical therapist to develop an individualized program suited to your needs. You may also want to consider hiring someone to help you complete these exercises regularly.
Preventing Falls in Bathrooms
Safety is a top priority for most people, including the bathroom. To prevent falls or other accidents in your bathroom, take some time now to assess what you have going on so you can make adjustments as needed.
You can use safety devices to help prevent falls in your bathroom. Of course, the best type of device for you will depend on the unique needs and hazards of your space. There are many options available to keep both children and adults safe while they’re taking care of their business.
For those without mobility issues but prone to overconfidence while balancing on slippery surfaces like wet floors, install nonslip mats around bathtubs and sinks. Also, install at entries and exits (especially outside) so nobody has any accidents when nobody has accidents coming or going from bathrooms.
Prevent Falls in Bathrooms Safety First
Whether it’s a grab bar or an anti-slip mat, you’ll be glad that you took these precautions.
A nasty fall in the bathroom can be a very traumatic experience. That’s why it is essential to take precautions before they happen-and even after an accident. You should still think about how your loved one will go back into that space with ease and safety.
You don’t need to spend thousands of dollars on fancy gadgets or systems. There are plenty of inexpensive devices available at your local hardware store or online that will do just fine for most situations.
All in all, there are a lot of ways to keep your bathroom safe, and you can make sure that falls don’t happen by installing safety devices like grab bars. We hope these tips will help.