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What Makes Bathrooms So Dangerous?

Every single one of us uses the bathroom each and every day. We don’t need to get into all of the details about what goes on in there, but the bottom line is that bathrooms are necessary parts of our lives. So, in spite of the dangers that lurk in our bathrooms, we all need to enter them several times each day to take care of our personal bodily requirements.

But just how dangerous are bathrooms?

They’re regularly called out for being the most dangerous rooms in the home. In fact, it’s no secret that the majority of slips and falls occur in the bathroom. On SaveOurBones.com, Vivian Goldschmidt points out that a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that approximately 234,000 people over the age of 15 are treated for injuries sustained in bathrooms each year. 4 out of 5 of those injuries were the direct result of falls.

She goes on to reveal that the CDC report found that one-third of adults aged 65 and older in that study sustained fractures from their bathroom falls. Naturally, it’s important to take measures to make our bathrooms safer places. One – probably pretty obvious – step would be to minimize the potential of water getting on the floor.

“The most basic part of the ‘water closet’ — the water in the sink, tub, and shower — is probably its number-one danger,” says Paula Spencer Scott on Caring.com, “More people are injured, even fatally, in bathroom falls than in any other room in the house. Trouble is, water doesn’t always stay where it should. Poorly fitting shower curtains and simple wet feet are two of the biggest causes of water winding up on the bathroom floor.”

How can we make wet surfaces less likely to make us slip and fall?

Slip resistance – it should go without saying – is huge in the fall preventing game. Placing non-slip mats inside the bathtub and in front of the toilet is a great way to minimize the risk of falling. However, as Goldschmidt notes, bathrooms surfaces aren’t just dangerous when wet. She highly recommends that we all do away with the throw rugs that many of us place in our bathrooms.

“While they may be pretty, throw rugs in the bathroom can be a hazard,” she warns, “They can slip out from under you or slide along the floor when you step on them. Using towels on the floor as bathmats poses a similar danger. Instead, put down rubber, non-slip bathmats and make sure your bathroom floor is clear of clutter.”

How can LifeCare Mobility Solutions make your bathroom a safer place?

We offer a wide variety of home bathroom modifications (grab bars, transfer benches and bath lift chairs, just to name a few) that increase the safety of completing basic daily living activities in your bathroom. Modifications can be as simple as changing water faucet handles from knobs to levers or as comprehensive as replacing the shower or bathtub with something more accessible.

If you have any questions about the home bathroom modifications offered by LifeCare Mobility Solutions, please don’t hesitate to call us at 647-350-4488 or email us at info@lifecaremobility.ca. You may also contact us by filling out the form on our Contact page!

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