In the last two years my mobility has worsened significantly. Getting up from chairs, especially lower ones, is very difficult. Once up my legs are stiff and I do the "old fogey shuffle" moving slowly in halting short steps with my back hunched over. After a few moments I tend to "loosen up."

After a hospital stay last Thanksgiving which exposed me to these, I acquired a shower chair and my friend installed grab bars. Huge safety improvement.

The back steps now are outfitted with "mini" steps as the normal step rise is challenging even with the use of my cane.

Almost 9 years ago stair lifts were installed in my tri-level house. This after a couple falls and demands of both my son and best friend who is an EMT. They have been life savers without which I couldn't live in my home.

This week marked two more "milestones." My internist referred me to a physical therapist to work on my mobility and balance. Hopefully the plan they'll develop will provide some relief. And a bed rail was delivered and installed. Fits under the queen size mattress and the padded handle greatly assists me in getting out of bed. Big improvement over my previous "kick" method where I'd thrust a leg up and out to gain momentum to sit up and then get off the bed.

The whole point of this post is to recommend not hesitating to acquire aids as we age. I stupidity initially resisted a decade ago but have since well learned the benefit of such.

quote:

Originally posted by bald1:
The whole point of this post is to recommend not hesitating to acquire aids as we age. I stupidity initially resisted a decade ago but have since well learned the benefit of such.

Seems to be very common.

My mother is likewise slowly coming around to accepting her limited mobility. She resisted using a cane for years, resulting in her falling multiple times. She has more recently resisted using a walker, despite recommendations from her doctors and several more falls while using her cane. She has just within the last month or so begun to use her walker some/most of the time.

Thankfully, her stubbornness hasn't resulted in any serious injuries. But I know folks who weren't so lucky.

Use caution when installing weight baring grab bars in sheet rock only.

Marion thought that $250.00 for installing four grab bars was reasonable,

Well, the installer on hit the studs with 8 screws .

She has a lot of loose bars now.
$1600.00 is the quote she got to add blocking between the studs.

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:

She has a lot of loose bars now.
$1600.00 is the quote she got to add blocking between the studs.

An alternative is to mount a board to the wall which is well anchored to the studs. Then mount the grab bars where you want on the board. To improve appearance, you can router a decorative edge, and apply stain or paint. It is much cheaper than adding blocking under the dry wall and then re-patching.

We added a bathroom a few years ago and put 1/2" plywood behind all the dry wall. In the future, we can add grab bars anywhere.

I also like using grab bars for towel bars. You need them anyway, might as well make them dual purpose. You do need to stack them out from the wall 3/4 inch or so for better air circulation for wet towels.

quote:

Big improvement over my previous "kick" method where I'd thrust a leg up and out to gain momentum to sit up and then get off the bed.

Sheer genius, that. . I'm right there with you.

It might be a good idea to get an Apple watch with fall detection, if you don’t have one.

quote:

Originally posted by arfmel:
It might be a good idea to get an Apple watch with fall detection, if you don’t have one.

An Apple watch saved my closest friend's life a couple summers back when he passed out on a camping trip, away from his wife and the others who were camping with him. It called local EMT's to the scene, he was airlifted to a hospital, lived happily ever after, six of us bought Apple phones as a result, some of the six already have watches, too.

Bald1 I resemble most of what you said.
Especially about trouble getting out of chairs and having stiff legs.

Siri also saved me elder brothers life .

What Fenris said. A mounting board for the grab bar, on top of the existing sheetrock, anchored with 4" deck screws to wall studs, then spruced up to make it acceptable. Dependable and simple.

Apple Watches sound like good ideas for my folks. What model detects falls and calls help?

bald1 - my wife and I are both disabled and use shower seats as well as numerous grab bars.

I have the same issue as you getting up from a low chair as well as not being able to get up from the floor, should I end up there. Recognizing that, I purchased a power lifter to slide under my broad rear end and lift me to a height that allows me to stand. It also worked when I inadvertently sat in a very low chair, then being unable to get up. I matched the lift platform to the chair seat, then slid over… pushed the button and up I went.

I have not suffered the embarrassment of calling the Paramedics to pick me up off the floor/chair/whatever since I bought the lift!! Having been a bit accident-prone, I almost knew the Responders by their first names!

Tillman in Central Florida

quote:

Apple Watches sound like good ideas for my folks. What model detects falls and calls help?

Here’s a link to the Apple refurbished store. Apple refurbished products have the same warranty as new. It appears that the SE offers fall detection. That’s the most basic they sell and the least expensive. The newer more expensive ones have fall detection, as well. I believe they’ll need an iPhone to use with it. An “X” or later.

https://www.apple.com/shop/refurbished/watch

I got a couple of motion activated night lights for night time wandering around.

They work great , instead of flipping on the light switch with ten or 20 times higher wattage.


They help a lot.

 
My shower stall is lined with synthetic marble slabs. They stop at about 6ft, so I went above them and found all the available studs, then plumbed lines down to where I wanted the grab bars. I installed 3 vertical and one horizontal bars, all firmly anchored to studs. I also recently added a shower chair, which takes a good load off while soaping and rinsing most of my body.
 
I used to have to use a cane for general walking. That became cumbersome after a few years, so I bought a rollator, which is a whole different kind of walker:
Nova Rollator. The 8" wheels offer lots of mobility, but it works well only on smooth surfaces. I take it with me to Dr.'s appts but mostly use it around the house/garage. No falls yet with the rollator.
 
Finally, the rollator or cane do not work well in our 6 acre yard, with gravel/rocks/dirt as the main surface. With the cane (best choice), a small pebble can cause it to turn and end up in a fall. My wife got tired of that, so for my 78th birthday, she bought me a golf cart for use in the yard. It is a Yamaha with the biggest Li-ion battery I have ever seen, 52volts, 100+Ah. Just picked it up yesterday, so I am in the process of making some necessary mods, like removing the rear seats, etc. It looks like this one:
Golf cart.
 
She told me if she ever saw a set of golf clubs in it, I would die (:

Well these are all good posts. I would like add something. ADA Compliant bars.

WTF is that you ask?

if you can slip your hand flatten through the bar past your hand/wrist break throw that baby out! That is a towel Bar not a Grab Bar.

ADA your hand can't fit through that gap.

Serious compound fractures with the patient trapped in a running show have occurred needlessly.

Good reference:
https://search.brave.com/searc...a9c2ebade5ddd3967853

When I refurb bathrooms I put in 2x12s in the areas that require grab bars even if my clients are young. Since the wall is open why not just do it. I dont want anyone relying on wall anchors.

Bald 1, your post rings true for most all of us older fellows. Not sure how old you are but I am 77 now and deal with some of the things you speak of. "loosening up" after sleeping or sitting for a long time is a daily routine. We have grab bars and a bench in the shower and I don't know what I would do without them.

I can still walk around and do my chores ok, like mowing and any tractor work, but it takes twice as long as it used to. I am a lifetime hunter and I can still walk back in my woods, thank God, but I can no longer use my tree stands, ground blinds for me now. My 11 year old granddaughter beat me at arm wrestling last weekend and that really sucked.

Hang in there. We do what we have to do as we age...and it's OK.

quote:

Originally posted by irreverent:
Apple Watches sound like good ideas for my folks. What model detects falls and calls help?

I have an Apple watch, it's perfect for me. I've gone down 5 times and each time it alerts me first, if I don't respond it calls my wife, if no answer, it calls 911. So far I have not broken anything but the added assistance getting up is invaluable. Well worth the investment. Google is your friend on model and options.

4 years ago my wife decided she no longer wanted to navigate our steep stairs (18th century house) with her neuropathy. We re-purposed a first floor room as a bedroom and re-did the nearest bathroom that had just a tub. Replaced that with a low sill shower that was big enough to accept a future shower chair. Stripped down to studs, before durarock and tile, I installed horizontal 2x blocking where grab bars would go. There are compliant ones that aren't institutional looking. This is one of them lagged into the blocking through the tile.



This is the old 1932 dated tub coming out of the old part of the house into our 1998 addition on a dolly.