{"id":1205,"date":"2016-07-28T19:07:48","date_gmt":"2016-07-28T23:07:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.freedomshowers.com\/?p=1205"},"modified":"2023-05-18T16:09:02","modified_gmt":"2023-05-18T20:09:02","slug":"4-tips-make-bathtub-safer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.freedomshowers.com\/blog\/4-tips-make-bathtub-safer\/","title":{"rendered":"Is your Bathtub a hazard? 4 Tips to make your bathtub safer"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div><h3><strong>Did you know?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Every <span style=\"color: #286cba;\">13 seconds<\/span>, an older adult visits an emergency room for a fall related injury<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>One in three adults <span style=\"color: #286cba;\">over 65<\/span>, falls each year<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><span style=\"color: #286cba;\">68%<\/span> of non-fatal bathroom injuries happened in the bathtub or shower<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Are these statistics stressing you out? After following a few tips to make it safer, you\u2019ll once again, be able to relax in your bathtub. Here are 4 tips to make your bathtub safer:<\/strong><br \/>\n<!--more--><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Grab Bars<\/strong>. The top tip for improving bathtub safety, is to<strong> add <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"color: #286cba; text-decoration: underline;\"><a style=\"color: #286cba; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/freedomshowers.com\/Shower-and-ADA-Bathroom-Accessories\/Bathroom-Grab-Bars\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">grab bars<\/a>.<\/span><\/span><\/strong> It\u2019s a quick and easy solution that has a huge impact. Almost every person knows that horrible feeling in your stomach when you slip even a little bit getting in or out of the tub. Installing\u00a0grab bars in strategic locations around the tub and at the entrance provides stability while you get in or out. Adding bars lower on the wall will help while sitting in the tub or getting back up. <span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #286cba;\"><a style=\"color: #286cba; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/freedomshowers.com\/Shower-and-ADA-Bathroom-Accessories\/Bathroom-Grab-Bars\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Freedom Grab bars<\/a><\/span> are available in a wide variety of sizes and attractive styles to accessorize your whole bathroom. Grab bars need to be installed properly into wood-backed walls or studs to provide the full benefit of secure hand rails. Improperly installed bars can cause more harm than having no grab bars.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Tub Seat.<\/strong> Even if you are just showering, being able to sit in the tub is important. Older adults may tire easily or the heat can rapidly lower blood pressure causing dizzy spells.\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"color: #286cba;\"><a style=\"color: #286cba; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/freedomshowers.com\/Shower-and-Bath-Seats\/Bathtub-Transfer-Benches\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Having a tub seat<\/a><\/span><\/span> in the bath is extremely beneficial. <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"color: #286cba;\"><a style=\"color: #286cba; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.freedomshowers.com\/APFSTE-320160PTS\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Wall mounted seats<\/a><\/span><\/span> are the safest, so there is no chance of the seat moving or slipping. Tub seats can be folded up against the back wall when not in use. These tubs seats the lay across the edges of the tub. Use a bath seat while showering, or as a transition seat for getting down into the tub. You can also use them as a transfer seat for getting your legs over the tub edge by sitting on the bench from outside the tub and swinging your legs over one at a time. No matter how you use them, tub seats greatly reduce the chances of falling.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Change plumbing fixtures.<\/strong> Having safer plumbing fixtures is also important to improve safety in the bathtub. A <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"color: #286cba;\"><a style=\"color: #286cba; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/freedomshowers.com\/Shower-and-ADA-Bathroom-Accessories\/Handicapped-Accessible-Shower-Accessories\/APFHHGBLS\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">height adjustable handheld shower kit<\/a><\/span><\/span> can replace a fixed shower head, or be installed with a diverter so you have the option to use either. The shower head rests in a bracket that easily slides up and down a glide bar, which can also be used as a grab bar. That way you can set the height of the shower head to suit your needs, whether you are standing or sitting on a bench. It also has a 60\u201d hose, so you can hold the shower head, instead of having to move under the water flow. <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"color: #286cba;\"><a style=\"color: #286cba; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/freedomshowers.com\/Shower-and-ADA-Bathroom-Accessories\/Handicapped-Accessible-Shower-Accessories\/APFMVLS\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">A pressure balanced mixing valve<\/a><\/span><\/span> will also eliminate sudden changes in water temperature when a toilet is flushed or dishwasher is running. It can be very dangerous if the water suddenly turns hot. Older adults or someone with limited mobility may struggle to move quick enough to avoid getting scolded. Sudden movements increase the chances of slipping in the tub. <strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"color: #286cba;\"><a style=\"color: #286cba; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/freedomshowers.com\/Shower-and-ADA-Bathroom-Accessories\/Handicapped-Accessible-Shower-Accessories\/APFMVLS\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">A pressure balanced mixing valve<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/strong> keeps the flow of the hot and cold water even.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Renovate.<\/strong> The best and safest solution is to renovate for long term accessibility and aging in place. You can either:<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 60px;\">a. Replace your standard tub with <strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"color: #286cba;\"><a style=\"color: #286cba; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.freedombathtubs.com\/walk-in-bath-tubs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a walk in tub<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/strong>. They are taller\u201a so you can sit on the molded bench and still be immersed in the water. They have a water tight door for easy entrance\u201a and are available in sizes that would fit in any bathroom. You can also accessorize your <span style=\"color: #286cba;\"><strong>walk in tub with air jets<\/strong><\/span>, water jets or both for a luxurious home spa. Or&#8230;<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 60px;\">b. You can replace the tub with a <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"color: #286cba;\"><a style=\"color: #286cba; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/freedomshowers.com\/Handicapped-Accessible-Showers\/APF6030BF5PR\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">walk in shower<\/a><\/span><\/span>. Step in showers are available with an <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"color: #286cba;\"><a style=\"color: #286cba; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/freedomshowers.com\/Premier-Easy-Access-Walk-in-Showers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">easy step 3\u201d or 4\u201d threshold<\/a><\/span><\/span>, or you can install a <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"color: #286cba;\"><a style=\"color: #286cba; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/freedomshowers.com\/Handicapped-Accessible-Showers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">barrier free shower<\/a><\/span><\/span>, which can accommodate a wheelchair or walker down the road. Showers can be outfitted with grab bars, folding shower seats, an end drain to match existing plumbing, the pressure balanced mixing valve and the height adjustable hand held shower kit.<\/p>\n<p>Bathroom safety should be your main concern as you or your family members get older.\u00a0 Making a few changes in the bathroom will help keep yourself and loved ones safe, but renovating for long term safety and aging in place is always a good idea.<\/p>\n<p>Thank you for reading. Have you ever slipped getting in or out of the bathtub? If you have any other safety tips for the bathroom, tub or shower, please share below.<\/p>\n<p><em>If you enjoyed this post, please consider sharing it on Facebook or Twitter below<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>P.S.<\/strong> <span style=\"color: #286cba;\">We\u2019d love to meet you on <strong><u><a style=\"color: #286cba;\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FreedomShowers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Twitter here<\/a><\/u>\u00a0<\/strong>or on\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #286cba;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #286cba; text-decoration: underline;\"><a style=\"color: #286cba; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Accessibility-Professionals-Inc-198494526882839\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Facebook here<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Did you know? Every 13 seconds, an older adult visits an emergency room for a fall related injury One in three adults over 65, falls each year 68% of non-fatal bathroom injuries happened in the bathtub or shower Are these statistics stressing you out? After following a few tips to make it safer, you\u2019ll once [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1207,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[99,142,133],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1205","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-accessible-home-for-aging-in-place","category-health-and-well-being-for-aging-americans","category-senior-safety"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomshowers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1205","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomshowers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomshowers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomshowers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomshowers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1205"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomshowers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1205\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7865,"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomshowers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1205\/revisions\/7865"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomshowers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomshowers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomshowers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomshowers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}