Undergoing a spinal surgery is no joke, and it definitely isn’t going to let you live as before. At least, during the days you take to recover. That heavily includes lifestyle changes, especially where you might fall, like in the bathroom, while taking a shower. You need to use a special chair for taking a shower safely.
But, why should you use a shower lift chair after spinal surgery?
A spinal lift chair will help you perform some self-chores while keeping you safe. They are designed to provide support for patients who just underwent spinal surgery. In addition, if you wish to do some self-care to maintain your hygiene, then you will need one of these Shower Lift chairs to keep things in order.
To know why you should utilize one of these chair options after spinal surgery, you need to know how things work around. No worries, we’ve got you covered, and have uncovered some essential information like how long after spinal surgery you can have a bath.
How Long After Spinal Surgery Can You Have a Bath?
After spinal surgery, most surgeons will advise their patients to hold on for up to 2 weeks before engaging in any self-care chores. These may include bathing, swimming, or using a hot tube. It takes about this time for the wound to heal completely.
If it is normal for you to wear a neck collar after the spinal surgery, you may likely wear one in a shower. However, before attempting this, seek some advice from your surgical team.
Why Should You Use a Shower Lift Chair After Surgery?
If you just underwent spinal surgery, you will need a shower lift chair to keep yourself safe when performing certain bodily chores. These may include having a nice, comfortable bath. Usually, it gets pretty unsafe to get in and out of the bathtub after spinal surgery. As such, it is vital to employ one of these ideal chairs after spinal surgery to give you a level of support and balance.
Let us discuss these reasons exhaustively for a more glaring understanding:
Provides The Ability to Perform Self-Care
A shower lift chair allows you to perform self-care without the assistance of anyone. These chairs come with certain options to meet different specifications of individuals. For example, you can find a shower lift chair with wheels aid getting to the tub, a regular-sized chair, and chairs with wider seats. Amongst others are Commode Seat Bathe Chairs/Shower Chairs. This shower lift chair has a hole in the seat, so it serves as a toilet seat. Also, the reclining bath and shower chairs, and more.
Helps You Maintain Your Safety
You can tell how scary it could be at times when you want to have a bath. Sometimes the thought of falling could flash in your mind. Using a shower lift chair will help you check this thought or feeling.
A shower lift chair serves as a support and reduces the chances of falling during a bath. It does this by securing the slippery surface of the bathroom or bathtub. A shower lift chair is an ideal tool for the elderly, patients in a wheelchair, or those who find moving difficult or painful. So, if you are trying to avoid the risk of tripping and falling during a bath, then you can consider getting one of these ideal chairs after spinal surgery.
Helps To Maintain Hygiene
Oftentimes, it could be a nightmare for those who find it painful to move to have a bath during a journey. You may not be able to tell how clean the bathtub or shower chairs of the hotel are, so why put your health at risk? The shower lift chair is quite a personal tool. As such, having your shower chair wherever you are can help you maintain good hygiene.
Better Life’s Quality
The inability to move is not the only challenge most people with certain disabilities face. There are certain other domestic actions they may want to engage in. But the inability to can negatively affect the quality of their lives. But with a shower life chair, it becomes more feasible to feel independent as you can easily perform necessary chores by yourself.
Risks Associated with a Shower Lift Chair
Although a shower lift chair can serve as great support for patients, there is a need to acquaint yourself with the risks of using one of these chairs. So, always keep these few risks in mind to contribute to your safety.
- Short life span:
Some of these shower lift chairs are not designed to last for too long, and this reflects in the frames and construction. If they are intended for pediatric use, there is a need to change them after a while, given that children grow over time. This is to ensure it meets up with the changing weights of the kid. So, getting the right choice for the right weight is a must.
- Genital entrapment:
A shower lift chair must come with a small seat drainage hole. This is necessary to prevent the chances of entrapping the genital. If the chair is such with a larger drainage hole, you might want to place a towel or face washer on the seat to reduce the chances of this risk.
How Should You (And Not To) Sit After Spinal Surgery?
The right sitting posture for a patient after spinal surgery is simply an upright sitting. If you just underwent spinal surgery, it is best to avoid soft chairs. Such as will let your waist go lower than your knees.
As you may already know, sitting for a while can pose some pressure on your spine. This makes it vital to know the right pattern or posture to take when you sit. For example, if you are still recovering from spinal surgery, do not sit where your hips are lower than your knees. This posture is unavoidable on soft chairs – giving the reason you should avoid soft chairs during your healing process.
In your attempt to get up from that seated position, slowly move to the edge of the seat. And with your arms placed on the chair, push yourself upward – putting pressure on the arms and legs.
How To Set Up a Shower Lift Chair
The installation process, in most cases, is pretty simple and will not require some plumbing skills for the setup. Moreover, you will find every necessary component needed for the installation. Here are the components you will find in its package.
- 1 Belt Sleeve
- 1 Wall Mounting Plate
- 1 Floor Anchor Bar
- 1 Battery Unit
- 1 Bathlift with remote control
- Manual (Excluding fixing screws and fixings)
Things to note:
- Ensure the wall for hanging the unit is solid enough before beginning the installation process. You can do this by knocking on the wall.
- Repeat the same action after drilling the first hole.
- Add an extra brace plate for a non-solid wall. Again, have a professional with you during this process.
- It is ideal for connecting the battery unit to power. But it must not be used in the bathroom. The displaying light in front of the charger indicates the battery is fully charged.
The steps:
Backplate Fitting
Fitting the backplate is laying an edge over the bathtub.
- Move it from one end of the bathtub to the other to see whether or not there is a slopy point. This is the point where the backplate fitting begins.
- Place it against the wall and take note of the holes’ positions.
- Drill a hole and fix a rawl plug in it, then screw the backplate into it.
- With a spirit level, mark out the other holes’ positions while ensuring the backplate is in a straight position.
- When that is done, remove the plate and drill holes in the holes’ positions. Then fix the backplate tightly in the holes. This is where you hang the main unit.
Floor Bracket Fitting
- Now that you have the main unit on the wall, simply fix the battery pack into it and turn it on.
- Now, with the handset or buttons, extend the belt downwards to go across the bathtub, to the floor.
- Mark the holes on the belt.
- Remove the belt and make holes. Now, tightly secure the floor bracket.
Test the Shower Lift
- Having the belt extended through the seating sleeve, attach it to the floor bracket.
- The belt should go across the top of the bathtub.
- With the remote, reduce the pressure on the belt to go down into the bath. In the same manner, use the remote to return to the initial sitting position. You will find the options written on the remote.
Bath Lift Instruction
- Do a trial run to ensure the Bathlift is functioning properly before taking a bath.
- Make sure the suction feet of the bath is tightly fit to the bath bottom.
- Ensure that the alignment of the Bathlift bracket pegs with the Bathlift base groove is correct, and properly pressed down.
- Be sure there is 0% obstruction prior to use.
- For your battery control, always adhere to charging instructions.
- Before bathing, be sure of the temperature of the water.
- Avoid reaching between the seat and the baseplate. This is to prevent the hazard of entrapping yourself in the lifting mechanism.
- In your attempt to install a Bathlift, ensure to place it at the opposite end of the taps.
Final Words
A shower lift chair offers some essential benefits for a patient who just had spinal surgery. Plus, it is considered an ideal tool for patients who just underwent spinal surgery. But why should you use a shower lift chair after spinal surgery?
You can think of a shower lift chair as good support for certain domestic actions and self-chores after spinal surgery. So, to maintain your safety while taking a shower, ensure to employ a shower lift chair. It will help you not only maintain the natural spine posture but also keep you safe from unwanted falls.
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