What is a Bath Lift?

I’ve had a few individuals ask me what a “bath lift” is and what to look for when buying one. Bath lifts aid you in and out of the bathtub. Health care providers like bath lifts due to the fact they can help them get patients in and out of the bathtub. They are also fantastic for children with aging parents who need a little help getting a loved one in and out of the tub. However, most seniors that can stand from a normal kitchen chair, but have problems getting out of a bath tub, can use a bath lift all by themselves.

There are a number of reasons seniors can’t take a bath anymore – mostly mobility issues. So many senior citizens really want to take a bath again, and now, by way of a bath lift, they can. Look at a bath lift like this: “I can spend $500-$700 one time for a bath lift or I can spend $4000 each month on a nursing home.” Bathing is a major reason for seniors moving into a nursing home. If a bath lift can keep you out of a nursing home for just one week – it paid for itself.

Even if you have a caregiver, lifting a person in and out of the bathtub can result in back problems. Bath lifts are life-savers for back pain suffers and care providers attending to over-weight patients.

Some units have a little device attached to the side of the bath lift called a transfer flap and it also helps get the bather from the edge of the bath tub to the middle of the bath lift chair. It can also help the more mobile bather get in and out of the tub by themselves.

There is a safety feature on most bath lifts that prevent the bather from entering the water if the battery doesn’t have enough of a charge to lift the bather back out of the tub. This saves the person from becoming stuck in the bathtub. When picking out a bath lift, comfort and safety should really be the main issues to consider, and you should try to buy one with this safety feature.

A bath lift will need to be stable even if it is one of those foldable, travelling models. Almost all bath lifts attach to the floor of the tub with the use of super strong suction cups and secure the lift in position pretty securely. However, they all have a little wobble to them since they are attached to the tub floor with pieces of rubber. If you think a little wobble is going to scare you, then a bath lift might not be for you.

There are two types of bath lifts – reclining and non-reclining. The non-reclining bath lifts can be $200 cheaper than the reclining lifts. The big advantage with the reclining models is they offer you much more room to stretch out. This is very important if you are a tall individual since the bath lift will require several inches of leg space from you in the tub. Using these kinds of bath lifts, an individual can choose how far back to recline for the most comfort. Non-reclining bath lifts aren’t as relaxing since an individual needs to stay in an erect position to take a bath.

I hope this helps.