Homepro Medical Supplies

What is the most dangerous room in your home?

You may think it’s the kitchen, with its sharp knives, searing stove tops and boiling water. Or the garage where all the power tools, fertilizers and sharp cutting tools reside.

Actually, it’s the bathroom, and it affects people of all ages. Statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released in 2011 showed that nearly 235,000 people age 15 and older visit the emergency room every year with injuries from bathroom accidents. Fourteen percent or 32,900 people, were hospitalized.

This makes the bathroom the most dangerous room in the American home. January is National Bath Safety Month, so we would like to discuss the importance of bath safety and who is most at risk for an accident in the bath tub or shower.

How can my bath tub or shower be dangerous?

Bath tub and shower-related injuries, whether getting into or out of or during the acting of bathing or showering, accounted for over two-thirds of the accidents in the CDC’s study. So what makes the bath and shower so dangerous?

• Both a bath tub and shower can be very slick when wet. This increases the chance of a slip and puts a premium on balance.
• You also need balance as you shift your weight when you get into or out of the shower. Good balance is also required while moving around while showering.

Who is most at risk?

The hard, slick surfaces of a shower or bath tub increase the need for strength, mobility, flexibility, balance and coordination. That makes it risky for some people to use the bath tub or shower unassisted, including:

• Seniors– it’s not a secret that strength and flexibility decrease with age. Those age 65 and older were the group that had the most bathroom accidents in the CDC’s study.
• People with certain medical conditions- various ailments sap strength and can result in altered balance and coordination.
• People on certain medications- a lack of balance or coordination is a side effect of many common medications. This can be dangerous when mixed with moving around on hard, slick surfaces.

A safe bath environment has three benefits. First, it lowers the risk of serious injuries. Second, it creates more independence for you or your aging parents. Finally, it gives both you and your loved ones peace of mind that they can be safer and more independent when bathing or showering.

In our next blog post we’ll discuss the specific ways Homepro Medical Supplies can help increase safety in your bathroom or the bathroom of a loved one. Until then , feel free to browse through our bathing product category to see what we have to offer.